


Sakura's Mad Moments of Time Travel and History

by Foodmoon



Series: Oddball fics [40]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Hybrid forms, Crack Treated Seriously, Do not share for profit, F/M, Hinami just doesn't want to be heir, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythical species, No one has an explanation for Tobirama, Sakura has a harem, Screwy logic accepted by all parties, Secondary forms, She blames it on temporary insanity, The Uchiha blame Izuna's part on 'pretty deadly' syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26615770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon
Summary: Obito screws up trying to help and Sakura lands at a critical moment in history...just not her history.
Relationships: Canon Relationships - Relationship, Haruno Sakura/Hagoromo Hinami (platonic), Haruno Sakura/Senju Tobirama, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Izuna
Series: Oddball fics [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/938265
Comments: 183
Kudos: 334





	1. Mad Moments

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when serious insomnia whacks me upside the head with a muse right before I crash to sleep the day away and then I'm enabled by multiple parties. And then the story jumps the rails.  
> Expect insanity.  
> This thing doesn't really have enough structure to go much further.  
> And it's unedited. Except the part that got made into notes instead of a really flat ending. That sorta got edited.

It all happens at once.

Tobirama briefly disappears from sight, there’s a flash of pink, then Izuna is being shoved sideways as Tobirama reappears, colliding with him, the two of them going down in a ~~hissing, spitting heap~~ yelping, cursing tangle of limbs.

Then small hands twist in the nape of their clothing and pull them up and apart, to hanging awkwardly just above kneeling height while a short, pretty woman with green eyes and pink hair eyes them critically. If they manage to _accidentally_ knee and/or elbow each other in painful spots in the process, well, what can one do? It’s a _common_ hazard, right? After a moment, she says to Izuna, “You look nice, and dumb. I think I’ll keep you.”

Izuna squawks in dismay. “I’m not dumb!”

Tobirama sniffs, looking slightly offended. “Just because I’m not dumb doesn’t mean I’m not nice.”

Green eyes fix on him consideringly. “Fair point. I’ll keep you too.”

“Well, she picked me first, so I’m the legal husband.” Izuna says, crossing his arms and sounding slightly miffed at her choice.

“As if.” Tobirama rejoins, eyes narrowing.

“Actually, unless the law is different from what I remember, it’s legal to take two wives but not legal to take two husbands, so _I’m_ the husband and you’re the wives.” She interrupts the burgeoning argument.

They look taken aback, and then Izuna smirks widely. “Then I’m the first wife.”

“As long as I’m the legal wife.” A smug smirk curls around the edges of Tobirama’s mouth.

The woman shakes them a little in reprimand. “How about we say in the Haruno clan both wives are legal and equal?”

“That seems fair.” Tobirama concedes.

Izuna sighs dramatically. “Fine, I can agree to that, but how do we decide if neither of us will give in?”

Her lips twitch in the first sign of amusement. “You can ask me. Or learn to compromise like adults.”

“Compromise?” Izuna sounds aghast at the very prospect. With Tobirama looking like he wants to laugh at him for the reaction.

A throat is cleared behind her and she turns, dragging them around with her somewhat awkwardly.

“Actually, Tobirama is the Senju clan heir and Izuna is the Uchiha clan heir, so you can’t just have them take your name.” Hashirama says apologetically.

“You can’t steal my brother.” Madara agrees, looking very much not amused.

“They agreed, so I can and I will.” She retorts. “Anyways, isn’t it about time the two of you stopped your little war over whose fingernails look prettier and make peace? That way my wives can freely visit their families.”

Both men splutter at the implication that their war is over something as petty as that.

“Listen, woman. You-” Madara begins.

“Excuse me. Miss…?” Hashirama says at the same time.

“My name is Sakura Haruno.” She interrupts.

They both stop at the firm tone and reassess.

“Our feud is not over fingernails.” Madara finally snaps, causing Izuna to devolve into snickers.

“The Senju are willing to make peace.” Hashirama states. “But unfortunately, our war is rather long standing and I don’t think that you declaring it at an end will convince Madara.”

She gives them a scornful look. “The lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Both your clans descended from the Otsusuki clan and I doubt anyone really _wants_ to be fighting anymore. Even your little brothers are willing to give up the fighting, as you can see. Didn’t the two of you want to build a village where clans could work together? _That_ would be a better solution than _this_ , this abomination of a feud.”

Both men make complicated expressions and don’t seem to have a reply to that.

“I agree.” Tobirama says after a moment.

Izuna stops laughing to make a complicated expression of his own, and finally huffs. “Our husband does have a point. I could visit you every day in a village, Aniki.”

“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?” Madara grumbles.

“Nope!” Izuna assures him cheerfully. “She took us _both_ out at once!”

“Fine.” Madara sighs dramatically. “The Uchiha agree to peace talks and a village with the Senju if the Senju agree likewise.”

“I agree! The Senju agree!” Hashirama exclaims immediately, then tries to hug Madara. “I’m so happy, my friend! We get to see our dream come true at last!”

Madara holds him off with both hands, dropping his gunbai to do so. “Knock it off, you tree! My clan is going to think you’re attacking me!”

Hashirama droops but relents, turning back to Sakura. “Where do you come from, Sakura-san? We didn’t see you enter the battlefield.”

Sakura releases her grip on Tobirama and Izuna belatedly and purses her lips for a moment, eyes tracking upwards and to the side. “The future. Also, why does that man have wings?”

They follow her gaze curiously.

“The future? That’s not-” Tobirama abruptly realizes that if Hiraishin is possible then it’s possible that someone has learned to alter the time/space aspects of a seal sufficiently to cause time travel. “How..? No, nevermind that. Are you not familiar with secondary forms?”

She tilts her head slightly in puzzlement. “Secondary forms? You mean like a kekkai genkai? As for how I got here, I believe that would be the fault of an Uchiha ally, Obito, attempting to get me out of the way of one of Kaguya’s ash bones and messing it up. You would not _believe_ some of the weirdness the mangekyo sharingan can get up to.”

Tobirama blinks at that, while the other three stare at her in varying degrees of disbelief. “I see. Since you are unfamiliar with secondary forms, I believe that you are not from _our_ future, but rather the future of an alternate timeline or universe. It’s not a kekkai genkai. Everyone is born with a secondary form. The man you are looking at is a Hagoromo, a clan with bird traits in their secondary form. The Uchiha are mainly cats with the occasional raven, while the Senju have a variety of types of mammals, though the majority are cats.

Sakura cocks her head in thought before nodding. “I agree with your conjecture. I don’t believe two or three generations would be long enough for something like that to disappear completely and without mention. Is it rude to ask someone what their secondary form is like? Also, since the Hagoromo appear to be Uchiha allies, are they going to make peace, too?”

“Not rude, per se, but rarely done outside of family and close friends. As for the Hagoromo…” Tobirama shrugs.

Madara grimaces. “Maybe. They definitely won’t be happy with me.”

A young woman not far from them, who has obviously been listening in, laughs. “I’m pretty sure you could convince my Clan head if you take _our_ Clan heir off his hands as well, Haruno-san. Then he could make his younger daughter heir instead and everyone would be happier.”

Sakura looks startled, then shrugs. “Alright.”

“Should you agree that quickly?” Izuna asks. “Do you even like girls?”

She gives him a puzzled look. “What?”

“The Hagoromo heir is female.” Tobirama clarifies. “And, ah, eccentric. From what I’ve heard.”

“By which he means that she attempted to eviscerate the last three people to offer her sex, and one of them was female.” Izuna adds.

The Hagoromo woman just nods in confirmation. “She’s a bit horrified by the notion of conjugal duties, but in your case that wouldn’t matter much, ne?”

“True.” Sakura says slowly. “I’m not a lover of women, but if she doesn’t want sex anyways, I’d be fine with it. It would actually be simpler that way. Are you willing to bring the offer to your Clan head?”

“Of course.” The woman grins. “I’m pretty sure Aneki and Otou-san will jump at the idea.”

~

Sakura keeps herself from shaking her head in disbelief as she signs papers of three different marriage agreements with three different clans. Yesterday she’d been in her own world, her own time, dodging Kaguya’s ash bones, one of many buying time for Sasuke and Naruto to get close enough to seal the goddess. Obito had been helping, popping people in and out of Kamui to save them from unavoidable blows, but he couldn’t be everywhere and she hadn’t realized he was paying attention, had been ready to dodge and releasing a jutsu designed to slow objects even as Kamui took her. Except it didn’t spit her out where she expected it to _(her jutsu must have affected the time aspect of Kamui, but she has no explanation for the different universe thing)_. Instead, it spit her out in the middle of a different kind of battle and she’d reacted on instinct. And then the shock of realizing that she was in the Founder’s Era pre-Konoha must have rattled her brains, because she’d agreed to take two men and a woman as wives, one of them the _Nidaime_ in her timeline, and somewhere in the middle she’d scolded Madara and Hashirama into making peace and agreeing to start work on Konoha.

Which, really? She must have been out of her mind temporarily. But it’s not like she doesn’t appreciate the result.

She has _also_ , entirely inadvertently, created the Haruno clan, with power all out of proportion to its size of _(with the signing of these papers)_ four adults and a baby with an unfortunate backstory, who is included to make up for her third wife’s ‘inability’ to give her a heir of her body. Hahaha… Yeah. Not a joke. It still makes her want to laugh madly. It’s a good thing she and all three of her wives are top notch ninjas because the only things she owns is the clothes on her back and the weapons and medical kit she’d been carrying. At least her wives are staying with their families until Konoha is built and she has a _house_ , but that means she’s going to be shuffled around between them so no one feels slighted. Because _apparently_ she has an impressive reputation herself now, what with people having _seen_ her take out the two Clan heirs with a simple push.

It’s actually quite embarrassing how much awe she’s garnered for the simple action of _shoving someone at just the right moment_. Ugh.

Madara, for some reason she doesn’t understand, hasn’t tried to talk Izuna out of the marriage, but he hasn’t stopped glowering at her either.

Hashirama, on the other hand, has been thrilled at the prospect of a _medic from the future_ to talk to about medical techniques ever since he found out her profession.

Koushi, the Head of the Hagoromo, hasn’t had a lot to say other than insisting on terms that guarantee his daughter Hinami’s good treatment as well as her voice in clan matters and that state the orphaned girl as well as possibly other orphans to be determined at a later time _(from the Inuzuka as well as his clan, for reasons she doesn’t understand)_ are to be in lieu of Hinami being required to fulfill the marital duties of sex and heirs. As if two women can have kids to begin with without a male involved. Well…they _can_ , but she doesn’t think Konoha-to-be is quite ready for that, nor do they have the technology to support it at the moment. And it’s not like she _needs_ extra children.

The marriage contracts state that she has to bear a minimum of one child with each of her first two ‘wives’, but that the men will raise them since she has no interest in child rearing personally. As for Hinami’s orphans, well, she supposes it doesn’t really matter since Hinami will be the one raising them. Of course, the contracts _also_ state that she is required to have a house large enough to support all three wives before any of them can move in with her. Which means that she’s unlikely to have any ‘conjugal visits’ until that happens, which is _fair_ , if frustrating as hell.

It’s been awhile since she had a boyfriend, okay? She misses sex.

That aside, having a harem is on every girl’s bucket list and _she_ has one. She’s going to be very smug about that. Later. When no one is watching and no one will comment on the slightly mad cackles that are sure to slip out. Not only that, her harem has two cat boys and a bird girl _without_ the need for costumes. Ino would be so, so jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tobirama is a striped grey and rust, medium-haired kitty with very tufty ears.  
> Izuna is a brown and black medium-haired kitty with remarkably weasel-like markings.  
> Hinami, who Sakura hasn’t met yet, is a bird in varying shades of seawater, both her hair and wings, though her wings are darker shades.  
> Madara is apparently the fluffiest, long-haired black kitty _ever._  
>  Hashirama is a very sleek, long-haired black cat.  
> Koushi is a bird in shades of purple and violet.  
> Ichika, Hinami’s younger sister, is a bird in shades of red and pinkish red.  
> Baby Hagoromo, a bird in shades of pink. _Her backstory is really bad and her living parent (father) has very valid reasons for refusing to have anything to do with her._ Up until the contract is signed she doesn't have a name, but afterwards is named in honor of it: Sawako _(咲 (shou, sa.ku, -zaki) meaning "bloom, blossom", 和 (o, ka, wa, nago.mu, nago.yaka, yawa.ragu, yawa.rageru) meaning "harmony, Japan, Japanese style, peace, soften", 羽 (u, ha, hane, wa) meaning "feathers")_
> 
> While secondary forms match up to animal types, such as cat, bird, dog, wolf, snake, etc. coloration may or may not match up to actual animal species. The Hagoromo clan are an example of birds that rarely match to any real bird species in coloration.  
> But there are clans with much more specific colorations. Such as there are a couple different clans of hawk types, the few bird type Uchiha are always crow/raven in coloration, the Hatake are grey wolves and the Inuzuka are Asian spitz types.  
> The Sarutobi are monkey types in general, some of which match real monkeys, others which don’t.
> 
> Sakura, dear, I'm pretty sure your and Ino's bucket lists are atypical.
> 
> Hinami and Ichika are half sisters. Hinami is half Inuzuka by blood.


	2. House Plans and Politics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wives make house plans, a new clan symbol is chosen, a wild house appears and politics give Sakura a headache.

“East-facing.” Comes Izuna’s voice from the room that the Sarutobi had indicated her wives were gathered in to discuss something.

Madara, Hashirama, Koushi and the elders of the three clans are busy discussing peace treaty terms, but apparently wives are excluded from such august discussions. Sakura has no intention of joining the peace discussions unless her opinion is deliberately sought out. After all, her marriage contracts lay out just about everything relevant in regards to her newborn clan.

“West.” Tobirama disagrees.

“No.” A female voice she doesn’t recognize but assumes must belong to her third wife says flatly. “It needs to be north-facing.”

Sakura pushes the door open and steps inside. “What are you discussing?”

Tobirama looks up with a smile that softens his face remarkably. “Good morning, Goshujin-sama. We’re discussing the layout of the house that Anija has offered to grow for us. Specifically which direction the kitchen window should face.”

She winces at the overly formal honorific. “Just call me Sakura, please. Why is the placement of a window a problem?”

“Because it determines which side of the house the kitchen is placed on. If it’s on the west, the kitchen gets the advantage of afternoon breezes to cool it.” Tobirama clarifies.

Izuna hmphs. “It should be on the east, so it gets the morning sun and the wind can’t blow dust in.”

Hinami purses her lips, brushing back a lock of hair, the color reminding Sakura of the sea. “It should be on the north. Then it gets the advantage of the breezes but with less dust. It also remains cooler because the house keeps the sun off the south side and the kitchen buffers the house somewhat when the winter winds are blowing.”

“Hm…” Sakura leans over to look at the house plans curiously. It is much larger than she would have assumed and has an engawa neatly sketched in on the south side. _Nice_. She holds out her hand for the charcoal drafting pencil Tobirama is holding.

He hands it to her after a moment of hesitation, apparently not sure if he wants to let someone else mark up his careful drafting.

She sketches a rough, narrow rectangle along the entire north side of the house. “How about that? Then we can have windows on all three sides.”

“That is a very large kitchen.” Izuna points out skeptically.

“Is that a problem? All of you will want your own space, I’m sure, and I’d like a portion of it for concocting poisons and antidotes.”

All three of her wives wince at the last bit.

“Actually, how about we just add space to Tobirama’s laboratory for that, Sakura?” Hinami suggests hastily. “Though I have no issues with a large kitchen. It will certainly make it easier to entertain guests from our respective birth clans. We discussed this earlier, but it is quite likely that we will find ourselves acting as hosts often, as we are an obvious neutral point between clans.”

“Oh.” Sakura seats herself across from Tobirama, with Izuna on her left and Hinami on her right. “The lab does sound far more convenient. And really? Will we? My clan had all but died out by the time I was born and we weren’t particularly important, so I’m not very familiar with anything clan related. And do we have the space to seat everyone for meals if we do?”

Izuna wrinkles his nose. “We haven’t gotten to that part yet. But maybe if we widen the kitchen and make the west half into an eating room?”

“I’m amenable to that.” Tobirama agrees after a moment and Sakura nods.

“Will that be enough space, though? What if we wrap part of the eating area around the west side? That way if there’s overflow or two groups who want a bit of space between, we can still accommodate everyone.” Hinami offers, sea green eyes thoughtful.

Sakura gives her a startled look, because that’s a modern design and probably quite innovative for this era.

“Weird. I like it.” Izuna opines.

“Practical.” Tobirama decides, sketching in the changes. “We should have some folding screens to separate the groups if needed, or simply screen off the unused portion. Sakura-sama, what is the Haruno clan symbol?”

“Just Sakura. A hollow circle.”

“Well, that won’t do. That’s already in use. By the Haruno clan of this time, I believe. What about a solid circle surrounded by a triangle?”

She thinks about it for a moment. The change to a solid circle is simple enough. It takes her a moment to realize that Tobirama must mean for the triangle to represent her three wives. Interesting symbolism and a statement on its own. “That works.”

“I’ll have the screens commissioned, then.” Hinami notes.

“What about colors?” Izuna asks.

“Uh… This color.” She decides, reaching out to tug on a lock of Hinami’s hair that is more blue than green.

Hinami turns red and covers her cheeks with her hands.

“Pretty.” Izuna chuckles.

“Noted.” Tobirama shuffles papers, bringing up a half finished sketch of a smaller building. “That’s it for the house. How much space do I need to add for you in the laboratory, Sakura?”

“How big is this?”

“Roughly 12x16 feet.”

“That won’t do. Make it approximately three times that size and then add on another third for me.”

Tobirama gives her a vastly startled look. “Alright.” He says slowly. “Does it matter which side your portion is on?”

“Not particularly. Though it should be well insulated to reduce temperature fluctuations. And be warned, I’ll probably ask you to invent various medical equipment that no one has the technology for.”

“Ahh.” Tobirama sounds enlightened. “Of course, Sakura. It would be my honor.”

She thinks about telling him not to bring honor into it, but decides that he’s just hopelessly traditional and she can give in on the little things that bring him comfort. “On that note, Hinami, do you have the skills to manage a household budget?”

Hinami looks apologetic. “I can with enough effort, but I’m honestly not very good at it, Sakura.”

“I’ll do it.” Izuna volunteers. “Numbers not attached to people make Aniki’s head hurt, so I’m used to doing it. Speaking of which, is it okay if I continue to do that until Aniki designates a replacement heir?”

Sakura blinks. _That_ had not occurred to her at all. “Of course. The same goes for you, Tobirama and Hinami.”

“Excellent. Anija is terrible with numbers.”

“I shouldn’t need to for long. I’ve been teaching Ichika how to take over my duties and she already knew a lot of it. But, uh, is there something else I can do instead of the finances? I don’t want to be useless.”

She realizes that she has inadvertently given the other two wives expected roles in the household and Hinami wishes for an equally important one.

“Uh…” Then she has a lightbulb moment. “Yes, actually. If you could keep an eye out for potential clan members, I’d appreciate it. Particularly ones with excellent chakra control or high intelligence. But civilians too. I don’t want our clan to be looked down on because of our small size. The three of you deserve better than that.”

“I see. Does age matter?”

“Of course not. Why would it?”

“It would to some.” Hinami says with a shrug.

Sakura gives her another puzzled look before deciding to drop the matter as trivial in the scheme of things.

~

The house is certainly…grand. It isn’t the first structure or house built in Konoha, but it’s definitely one of the first. Sakura just stares at it for a while. For one thing, it’s four stories tall and for another, the floor plan is a lot…larger than she had assumed from looking at the plans for the first story. No wonder Izuna had commented on the size of the kitchen she had proposed as a solution. It’s oddly rounded at the corners, a side effect of using Hashirama’s mokuton to build the structure. The front entry isn’t the south side like she’d assumed, but on the west side on the southern half. To make it easy for guests to be herded into the dining area, she presumes.

It’s beautiful. _If overwhelming_.

There are trees and gardens laid out around it already, too. Apparently Hashirama’s contribution hadn’t stopped at the house, though it’s likely someone else is responsible for the stone paths. And is that a koi pond over there? To see something like this created out of what had been a roughly cleared flat plot of land a week ago is frankly a little awe-inspiring, even as familiar as she is with ninja capabilities.

There’s a small, hand-built building on the south east side.

“That isn’t the lab, is it?”

“No, I have builders booked for next month to build that. Anija couldn’t help with that because the lingering chakra would interfere with experiments.” Tobirama replies.

“Aniki built it himself. It’s an aviary.” Izuna volunteers. “He raises hawks, but wasn’t sure if we’d want hawks or a different type of bird, so it’s empty right now.”

“As long as no one expects me to care for them, you may have any sort of bird you like. That was thoughtful of Madara.” _Though it would’ve been nice if someone had asked her first._

“I have messenger doves I can move into it.” Hinami offers.

“Oh, thank kami! Now I can tell Aniki that he can’t train up one of his birds for me. Those little bastards _bite_.” Izuna exclaims.

Tobirama touches her arm. “Would you like to see the inside, Sakura? It is still largely empty even with our…dowries, but Anija made furniture for the main rooms and any needed for our private rooms.”

She hooks her arm through his. “I’d like that. But why is it so big? You all can’t possibly think we need this much room for the Clan head’s house.”

“Because it’s the Clan house, not the Clan head’s house.” Hinami explains, taking her other arm. “The ground floor is for us. The other floors are for clan members to live in. Of course, smaller houses can eventually be built for those who wish space of their own, but this will encourage everyone to get to know each other and work together better. Also, we think it likely that you, perhaps all of us, will have other priorities for the first few years and this way they at least have proper spaces to live in.”

“Forward-looking. I approve.” Sakura compliments after a moment’s thought. Apparently her spouses are far ahead of her on clan expansion planning. Now she’ll just have to have them explain it all out to her. Hopefully the house tour will clear up the majority of questions.

~

Sakura fights off a headache as she listens to the absolute idiocy being tossed around as ‘planning’ for the Academy. More accurately it’s long winded arguments with little benefit to the actual children. Finally, she gets fed up and slams her hand down on the table, cracking it a little.

Everyone startles, staring at the indentation radiating thin cracks in the thick conference table.

“Are the lot of you done with your dick wagging contest yet? You’re not even taking into consideration the extra training civilian children will require or even that civilian children _can_ become a military asset. What the hell is wrong with you? Honestly, my wives could and would do a much better job of heading this project. It’s certainly not _my_ area of expertise. Is it yours?”

There is a protracted silence.

She huffs. “Nothing to say? Then it’s decided. The Academy will be given over to Tobirama, Izuna and Hinami to sort out. Moving on, what’s next on the agenda?”

Nara Shikao groans. “Far too much. I think the placement of the civilian district was next, though.”

“Oh, goody. Something that doesn’t need my input. Wake me up if there’s something that I’m required for.” She snaps, putting her head down on her arms. _Why, exactly, had she allowed Hashirama and Madara to talk her into politics again? All she really wants is to get the hospital up and running._ At least she can go home and crawl in bed with her wives tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura, thinking _‘oh, a relatively large family house, makes sense’_.  
> Sakura, staring _‘holy fuck, I have a mansion. Why?’_
> 
> There is the original Haruno clan around, but they haven’t joined Konoha quite yet.
> 
> The new Haruno clan’s lands adjoin that of the land laid out for the hospital and adjacent facilities.
> 
> Hinami logic: _Okay, then, everyone with pinkish or reddish hair is fair game as new clan members and exceptions are to be made for those with high chakra control or high intelligence. Regardless of age. Nice to know. Makes for a more balanced clan_.
> 
> Tobirama and Izuna logic: _Okay, so we just need to keep that and maybe pinkish-range hair in mind and run our picks for clan members past Hinami first before presenting them to Sakura_.
> 
> Sakura logic: _I hate politics. Didn’t Tobirama arrange most of the Academy requirements the first time around? Why not let him do his thing without interference? It’ll be faster and with Izuna and Hinami he’ll have plenty of feedback. When do I get my hospital?_
> 
> Everyone else logic: _That girl just left a handprint in the table. A handprint! And cracked it too! It’s three inches thick! I kind of don’t want to focus her temper on me, uh… Her wives were clan heirs, right? Yeah, let’s just…let her have her way. We’re making no progress on this anyways. And civilians? What?_
> 
> Hashirama and Madara logic: (smug) _That’s my sister in law! Besides Tobirama and Izuna can obviously do a much better job than these idiots are agitating for_.
> 
> In general, Hinami, Izuna and Tobirama have been excluded from the planning due to their statuses as wives. No one has any idea how big of an impact this is having on the planning and laws of Konoha.   
> On the other hand, the idea to turn the Academy planning to them isn’t rejected outright because they were well known clan heirs not very long ago. The Academy standards and classes are better-rounded than in canon, for having been turned over to the three of them.   
> As well, this opens the door to wives being included in some of the policy making, which in turn makes Konoha a slightly more progressive place than in canon.  
> Another thing is that their marriage itself sets some interesting precedents in Konoha marriage law, as well as in Haruno clan tradition and laws. Neither of which have been set down in writing as of yet.
> 
> Sakura has an oversized king bed, but each of the wives have their own separate smaller beds, in case someone wants to sleep separate from the daily cuddle pile or Sakura wants privacy for sex. And yes, Sakura’s canonically a closet pervert, but she and Tobirama (at least) are workaholic types, so cuddle piles work for them.
> 
> I feel like there was more that I was going to write on this, but I’m too sleepy for my brain to make sense of it, so I’m leaving it open for another chapter or two.


	3. Baby, Ninken, Couch, Kitchen and Bijuu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura has domestic moments, Hashirama is an idiot, Sakura manages to give the entire clan council a headache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally sat down and wrote out a scene list, the ones I could remember, the ones my writing buddies could remember, anything new we came up with and a couple dredged up after the fact and added. So you'll notice that the chapter count has grown again. At this point I have enough for at least two chapters. Feel free to throw more ideas at me, though.
> 
> I seem to be having spurts of several chapters in a week followed by writers block instead of my normal once a week posting habit, so... Be aware that chapters may be at irregular intervals for a while. Though I'm trying to go back to my normal pattern, it has had minimal success. For instance _(grimaces)_ , I'm pretty sure this is the third chapter in about a week's time.
> 
> Credit to Black_Victor_Cachat for the bijuu idea and theme.

Sawako is cute. Well, at least Sakura thinks so. She may be prejudiced because the kid has pink hair only a few shades off her own and in her secondary form has fuzzy little wings that show a promise of some shade of pink once the fluff is shed in favor of fully formed feathers. It’s _adorable_ , and she can absolutely see why the Hagoromo clan have picked this particular child to be a substitute for Hinami providing her a biological child.

The child has also taken to Izuna with such a fervor that Hinami had muttered something about obsessive personalities being hereditary and hoping that it wouldn’t cause problems ‘like that’ in the future. It makes Sakura a bit leery of asking what she means, fairly sure that she really _doesn’t_ want to know. Fortunately, though, Sawako is a cheerful baby and only sulks minorly if handed off to someone besides Izuna.

Also fortunately, the child has a wet nurse, though for some reason it’s an Inuzuka, not a Hagoromo. Everyone is getting used to tripping over the living rug that masquerades as the woman’s collie. Sakura would have expected that as their secondary forms are cats, Tobirama and Izuna would be upset at having a dog around, but if anything, it’s the opposite.

Izuna will spend hours brushing the lazy creature.

And Tobirama…well. The dog, Kyo, cannot speak but it is highly intelligent and more than once she has found Tobirama spending a length of time asking the creature some rather complicated yes or no questions that it patiently answers with a nod or shake of its head.

So she is not against it when Hinami asks somewhat timidly, “Sakura, would you mind if I had a dog?”

“A dog?” She’s not sure why Hinami wants a dog, because apparently Kyo is going to be around for the foreseeable future and isn’t that enough?

“I- I’m entitled to one from the Inuzuka through my parents’ marriage contract, but father would never let me ask, because I was his heir. And since I was my mother’s only child, he couldn’t change that without breaking the contract. That’s, uh, why I had to marry out for Ichika to take over the position. And, yeah… It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but… Anyways, that’s why I have Riko. But I won’t ask if you don’t want me to.”

Sakura has no idea what Riko has to do with anything else in that mishmash of information, but this is the first thing Hinami has asked for that is purely to her own benefit and another dog underfoot isn’t enough reason to squash the hopeful expression her wife is wearing. “I don’t mind as long as it’s kid-friendly. I don’t want to have to worry about Sawako’s safety.”

Hinami honest-to-kami squeals loud enough to make her ears ring and hugs her impulsively. “Thank you, Sakura! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She pats her gingerly on the back. Cuddles are nice, but hugs are new. “You’re quite welcome. Um, maybe also get one that’s already house-trained? I’m not sure I can deal with stepping in puddles.”

Her wife laughs and releases her. “Of course. May I go ask Oba-san about it now?”

“Have fun.” Sakura acquiesces, though she doesn’t see why Hinami needs her permission for it. This era has some odd conventions that she’ll never properly grasp.

“Oh, I will!”

~

Hinami comes home with a six month old brown and white puppy, already tall enough at the shoulder to be level with her knees and big enough to make about four of little Sawako. Unlike Kyo, it is jowly; a St. Bernard by breed according to Riko. Apparently the breed is from the Land of Ice and is noted for its patience and strength.

Also unlike Kyo, Jiro can talk. Only a few words, but enough to mean that he is a ninken, not a companion dog, which Sakura hadn’t expected for some reason. The addition of a second large dog to the household makes her grateful for how large the house is. It also makes her feel somewhat sorry for any future, would-be thieves.

~

Sakura’s favorite piece of furniture is a roughly U shaped couch like thing that Hashirama grew and Izuna commissioned plush cushions for. The middle of it is perfectly tailored to be a comfortable sitting place for someone of her height, and to either side are long wings meant for sprawling on but with low, the right side with a normal back and the left with a very low back. But in addition there is a well-supported platform _behind_ Sakura’s spot at head height, also obviously meant for sprawling.

While her wives switch around sometimes, usually she ends up with Izuna on her right, Hinami on her left and Tobirama behind her, the three of them lazing in their secondary forms, something they would not do in public. She loves it.

Usually it is the early hours of the morning that they spend there, the only time available for them to relax together before the busy hours of the day pull them apart. And if it means that her sleep yukata picks up bits of blue and green fluff and grey, rust and black fur? Well, she doesn’t mind.

~

She keeps a gracious smile on her face with effort and wonders if maybe the first time around Hashirama _actually_ died because he invited _20 important people_ over to someone’s house without giving that person warning first and they took well deserved revenge. Sure, her kitchen and dining room can support that many, but there is such a thing as _not having that much food on hand_ and _not enough people to prepare it_.

Izuna may be serving _now_ , but she knows that he’s made at least two runs to the market for more supplies already and they’re only a quarter of the way through the meal. Tobirama and Riko had been taking turns bringing out food before now and Hinami’s in there too. Sawako having been left with the dogs out of necessity.

“We need someone else in there!” Izuna bends to hiss in her ear.

“I can-” She begins to offer, despite having been previously banned from the kitchen for murdering food and pans.

“No! Someone competent!”

 _Well, ouch_. “I’ll see what I can do.” She promises with a wince.

Rising, she makes her way over to the table where the Ino/Shika/Cho trio are seated along with others, and taps Chouki Akimichi on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Akimichi-sama, but may I-?”

He turns in his seat and smiles at her. “Just call me Chouki, Sakura-san. What’s wrong?”

Sakura flushes a little. “Um. Chouki-san. I know your clan is known for its superb food. It’s embarrassing to ask, but would it be too much to ask if you could help with the meal? My clan is currently too small to deal with the demand this meal puts on us and I’ve been permanently banned from the kitchen for anything other than fetching a glass of water.”

His expression goes serious for a moment. “Who have you got back there?”

“My three wives and an Inuzuka woman.”

“The wet nurse.” Shikao Nara murmurs. _Accurately._ “Who’s watching your child?”

She grimaces slightly despite herself. “The ninken.”

“That’s not ideal.” Inori Yamanaka states mildly.

“I see your dilemma. Fear not, Sakura-san, I will not turn away your request. I merely wished to ascertain that you were not exaggerating.”

 _That’s probably fair, given that she doesn’t really have a reputation beyond the incident where she met two of her three wives. Hardly something to be able to gauge her judgement of more domestic situations by._ Sakura blinks at him and almost forgets to step out of his way as he rises to his feet in a surprisingly graceful movement.

“Well? Lead on.”

Shaking herself mentally, she inclines her head. “Thank you, Chouki-san.”

In the kitchen, two of the four stoves are in use and one of the long prep counters is in full use with another in partial use. Izuna is busy scooping steaming rice out of a pot into a serving dish. Tobirama is standing at a stove with five more pots of rice in various stages of cooking and two pans of fish frying. Riko is deboning meat. And Hinami is focusing on the six woks full of meat or vegetables that she has going.

Tobirama notices her first. “Sakura?”

“I’ve brought you help.”

His eyes widen as he notes Chouki standing behind her. “Well, help is certainly appreciated. But Sakura, you’re the host. You need to be out there.”

“I know, I know. I’m going.” She gives Chouki an apologetic look as she hastily retreats from the kitchen.

Behind her, she hears him say jovially, “I’ll just take over chopping the vegetables and starting the sauces, shall I?”

Sakura returns to the dining room to find that the guests are still lively, seemingly not having noticed her taking Chouki-san aside. Hashirama doesn’t even seem to notice she’s been gone, though Madara casts her a curious look and Koushi eyes her with an expression of concern. She gives her father-in-law a reassuring smile as she reseats herself. It only takes a few moments of listening to rejoin the conversations around her. Crisis averted, but Hashirama’s going to get an earful later, and Madara too, for not stopping him.

Apparently, though, her wives are not content to save all retaliation for later. When the fish arrives, served on individual plates, Hashirama’s is drizzled in some dark red sauce in such a way that it looks like the fish is bleeding away its lifeblood from its gills and mouth. Madara’s is decorated similarly, in a lighter red sauce that she recognizes as being from Izuna’s latest batch of _‘Extra spicy! It’s good! Try it!’_ sauce.

A cloud of gloom instantly begins forming over Hashirama’s head and Madara shoots Izuna a startled look, only to be met with a saccharine smile with _teeth_. She hides a laugh in her tea, noticing Koushi doing the same, as Madara blinks and then gives his fish a vastly paranoid look.

Honestly, it serves them right.

And also? She needs more clan members. Like yesterday. Something like this _cannot_ happen again.

~

_Various people speaking. Clan council meeting…_

“There are rumors that Suna has a mad priest who has been possessed by the one tail.”

“Possessed? But no rumors of slaughter or rampages?”

“No? None of that.”

“What are the odds, do you think, that they’ve actually _sealed_ the one tail into that priest?”

“That’s crazy.”

“But it fits the events better than possession.”

“What? You think they hired an Uzumaki to do it?”

“Doubt it. If they had, their priest wouldn’t be a madman.”

“Well, if _Suna_ can do it…”

A snort. “Yeah, anyone else can do it better.”

“You think we should?”

“Maybe.”

“I think it’s folly.”

“Well _you_ would. What do you think, Hashirama-san?”

“I think it might be a good-”

Sakura lifts her head from the conference table to glare at Hashirama. “If you finish that sentence with _‘to make friends by handing out the bijuu to the other villages’_ , I’m going to hit you. You _do_ realize that the bijuu were created by the Sage of Six Paths and that they are living, thinking creatures with names and human speech who are _not_ going to be pleased about being imprisoned and passed around like party favors? What do you think would happen if one got _out_ of its seal? I can tell you what happened when that happened in _my_ timeline.

“The nine tails destroyed a good quarter of Konoha. The Hokage and his wife died resealing it and the former Hokage was widowed and left to take up the hat again. And the nine tails jinchuuriki grew up so hated that it is a miracle that he never turned on Konoha in revenge. Then some radical rogue nin went around ‘collecting’ the bijuu and used them as a power source to unlock the seal of a mad goddess determined to kill everyone to ‘get back’ their chakra. What do you think happened to those jinchuuriki? That’s right. They _all died_. The only ones who survived did so because only part of their bijuu’s chakra was removed. Well, one was resurrected, but that’s a different story. The only reason we held up as well as we did against Kaguya was that the nine tails jinchuuriki, who was my teammate, convinced the bijuu to work with us.” She grimaces. “I have faith that my teammates have sealed Kaguya by now, but that’s when I ended up _here_ , so I didn’t see it happen.”

There is dead silence around the conference table.

Glancing around, all she sees is shock, bafflement and disbelief. “Um. Hashirama and Madara _did_ tell you I’m from the future of an alternate timeline, right?”

“No.” Shikao Nara says, coughing into his fist a little. “No, they did not. And it beggars imagination as to how you convinced them of that in the first place.”

“Appearing out of thin air in the middle of a battlefield probably had something to do with that.” She tells him drily. “The fact that I know medical techniques far beyond what’s available to this era may have something to do with it, too. Why? Is there something you want to know about the future? Like your great grandson is the world’s laziest genius? That the Ino/Shika/Cho alliance is still strong and thriving? That I’m the world’s second best medic?”

Something in his eyes tells her that she’s convinced him. He slumps back and says provokingly, “Only second best?”

“I’m only 18, after all. My shishou has been the world’s best medic for over thirty years.”

“And who’s your shishou?”

“Tsunade Senju, Hashirama’s granddaughter.” She shrugs. “That may or may not happen in this timeline. There are differences. We don’t have secondary forms like the people here do, for instance.”

The shocked silence drags out long enough that she shrugs again.

“If you want Inori-san to look into my mind and see if it’s the truth, I’m amenable. I have nothing to hide.”

Finally, Hashirama clears his throat. “Well, if the bijuu can think and speak like humans, then we should approach them about becoming allies instead of seeking to seal them. You can talk more to Sakura about her circumstances later, though, because we have plenty of other issues to cover today.”

“Agreed.” Madara says, shuffling through his papers then tapping the bottom edges against the table to align them. “Now, about training grounds…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inuzuka Riko- Sawako’s wet nurse _(though this is recent, as a Hagoromo was providing for her before)_. Due to the fact that Koushi had a very complicated marriage contract with Hinami’s mother, Hinami is entitled to certain things from the Inuzuka and Riko was chosen to be her attendant. She will take up those duties once her time as wet nurse is finished. Riko’s son _(who is nearly a year older than Sawako)_ is being raised by her sister.
> 
> Kyo- Riko’s ninken, a standard Collie. Cannot speak human, but is fond of learning things he probably shouldn’t and gossip. He is rather lazy, prone to laying in inconvenient places, patient in general and fond of having his fur brushed. When not being lazy, he likes to herd people around to entertain himself and is something of a demon in fieldwork. Despite making like a rug as often as possible, he is quick on his feet and quite a large dog. He prefers autumn and spring to summers, given the amount of fur he has, but is less fond of winters because he doesn’t like chilled feet and ice matted into his paws.
> 
> Jiro- Hinami’s new ninken, a St. Bernard. He is older than the average puppy available for matching, but has taken the time to learn how to talk. As Hinami is far older than the average Inuzuka starting out with a puppy, she was only offered dogs that could talk to some extent, most of them older than Jiro by a fair bit. The reason she has a right to a ninken rather than a companion dog is because the Inuzuka Clan head is her maternal aunt.
> 
> Headcanon that the Inuzuka sometimes just make off with interesting dogs they run across in their travels and use them to start new ninken lines. Though probably the majority end up as companion dogs to civilian members of the clan. Dogs have a choice of whether they want to go into shinobi work or not, though some breeds are just far more inclined to combat than others. Since standard or Rough Collies _(there is a short haired variety called Smooth Collies, and not to be confused with Border Collies)_ are traditionally herd dogs and St. Bernards are historically rescue dogs, I think it would be rare for them to choose to become ninken, which in turn probably means the clan doesn’t breed very many of them. Both breeds are highly intelligent. Neither is particularly suited to hot weather. Collies due to their long hair and St. Bernards due to the heavy layer of fat they carry.
> 
> The Haruno lands are surrounded by the Senju on the north and northwest, the Hagane south and the Nohara southwest. East of them is the land laid out for the hospital and similar things. While there are several minor clans and a civilian district in between, the Uchiha lay more or less southeast of them.
> 
> Shikao absolutely does ask Sakura to let Inori look through her head. Inori is initially apologetic about it, but by the time he’s done looking he’s more flabbergasted than anything, by the sheer amount of progress time has made. And absolutely horrified about the amount of destruction and war that is history for Sakura and that she’s lived through. Chouki is grateful when Sakura offers him an improved version of the Akimichi food pills _(she wasn’t the one who improved them, but she knows the formula)_. Since Inori vouches for her, the other Clan heads on the council grudgingly decide to believe her. This may have interesting consequences at further council meetings.


	4. Arrivals, A Leg and Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original Haruno clan turns up. Izuna rehomes a fellow troll. Emergency healing. Rain and memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing keeps growing. Whyyyy?

“…We would like _her_ to change her surname. That is our sole extra condition for joining Konoha.” The Haruno clan representative finishes.

Arata Shimura puffs up like an offended chicken. “Do you even know what you’re asking!? How dare you ask another clan to change their name?”

“Apologies, but that is _our_ clan name. The Haruno clan is as old as yours, Shimura, and we are wronged by the use of our name by an upstart.”

 _Well, ouch_. Still, it’s not like she hasn’t thought of this possibility happening. Sakura raises her hand to shush anyone else from answering. “She has a point. While the name Haruno is mine by right, mine is a very small clan and the Haruno clan has a long history in Fire Country. I will accept this condition. My clan will be the Harunoshin clan from today forwards. I trust that is acceptable to the Haruno clan?”

The woman opens her mouth, closes it, looks frustrated and then nods. “It is sufficient. We are not trying to separate you from a rightful inheritance. Merely to be distinguishable and retain our own heritage.”

Sakura spreads her hands placatingly. “I understand. I am a descendant of your clan, but not from this time or this timeline and do not wish to steal from the past nor to discard it to build the future of my clan. I appreciate your generosity on this matter.”

This garners her a strange look, but apparently is humble enough to soothe over the situation.

“It is nice to see such wisdom in one so young. I will inform my Clan head about this.”

_Right. Wisdom. Her. Nice to know she can fake it, though._

~

“Sakura. This is Ahana. She used to run a tea shop. Hinami said okay, so I thought she’d make a good clan member. What do you think?” Izuna looks proud of himself.

She blinks and eyes the elder woman, whose hair is meticulously hennaed and expression is unreadably serene. “Why, exactly, is a former tea shop worker useful to our clan? And why does she want to join?”

“Because she has experience as a hostess! And…uh.” Izuna hesitates and then admits in a small voice, “I don’t actually know why she’s willing, but _I_ asked _her_ , not the other way around.”

Ahana flashes her a smile filled with enough mischief that she suddenly knows _exactly_ why Izuna likes her. “If I may be blunt, Sakura-sama, it is simple enough. It is difficult for an old woman to make a living. My skills are of little value when there are younger women offering their services to tea houses. Steady meals and a roof that doesn’t leak over my head are worth much to someone like me.”

Sakura blinks at her. “Your roof leaks?”

“Ah, no. Not in Konoha with your esteemed brother-in-law creating cheap apartments for us poorer folks. I speak from past experience. There is no need to pity my current situation, Sakura-sama. I came because I was flattered that your man would stoop to ask someone like me to join the clan. If it is not in your interests to accept me, I will still go away flattered that I was considered for even a short time.”

“I see.” She considers for a moment. “Where was the teahouse that you ran?”

“Tanzaku Quarters. I do not think the current owners would be willing to give me a reference letter, however. We parted on rather strident terms. I believe ‘petty old hag’ featured among them.” Ahana smiles sweetly, not bothering to hide her obvious grudge over the matter.

Amusement tugs at the corners of Sakura’s lips. “Izuna, give her a room on the ground floor. Old hips and stairs rarely mix well.”

Ahana looks shocked. “Wait. You’re accepting me to the clan, Sakura-sama?”

“Did you not want me to? Izuna is certainly right that we can use a hostess for times when large numbers of guests eat here.”

Izuna looks extremely smug at this.

“No, I- That is. I did not expect it.” Ahana bows. “Thank you, Sakura-sama. I will make certain your faith is not misplaced.”

~

“Hashirama-sama! Hashirama-sama!” A door slams and Sakura looks up from the paperwork she’s been tasked with. Sure enough, a moment later an Uzuki clan member pokes her head in. “Sakura-sama, have you seen Hashirama-sama?”

“He left yesterday for a week long mission.”

Her expression drops from panic into gloom. “Why at this time?”

“What’s wrong?”

“One of our squads got ambushed. Seo Kato is seriously injured. I don’t think he can be saved without Hashirama-sama here.”

Sakura lays down her pen and stands up. “Show me. I have skill as a medic.”

“Thank you, Sakura-sama, but-”

_“Now.”_

The command in her tone makes the woman jump a little, but thankfully it is enough to make her comply. “Follow me, then.”

~

She sees instantly why the messenger thinks Seo is doomed. It’s a horrifying thigh injury and she has no idea how they’ve managed to keep him from bleeding out entirely so far.

“Move aside. I’m a medic.” She orders, hands lighting up with green chakra. “You, hold his arms. You and you hold his legs still. This is delicate work and it will be bad if he moves suddenly.”

Amazingly, no one questions her right to give orders. Maybe something about being a Clan head. Whatever the reason, she’ll be grateful later. When she has the time. Fortunately, the wound isn’t poisoned. It only takes a moment to use a small water jutsu to cleanse the wound from contaminates before she starts healing in earnest.

“Whoever administered the styptic, good job. He’d be dead by now otherwise. Also, adequate patching on the major veins and arteries, if seriously clumsy.” It was obviously done by someone who can barely heal more than scratches. Amateurish, but fast enough to prevent him from dying within minutes.

“Ah… That’d be me. Thanks, I guess?” The Kato man says through pain clenched teeth.

 _Self-treatment? That bespeaks a presence of mind that is rare._ “Good. Once we get the hospital damned well built, you’re going to be training under me for a while. You have the instincts necessary to make a highly skilled medic, so good job not dying. Konoha will need more medics soon enough.”

She ignores his incoherent splutters and falls silent for a time, intent on healing. When she’s done, nearly an hour later, she sits back on her heels and looks up to see near-awed expressions on those watching her and her patient. Quite a number have gathered while she was busy and among them is the Kato Clan head, Ben Kato.

He steps forward. “Sakura-san, my clan owes you a debt.”

Sakura makes a sharp gesture of negation, then grimaces briefly at the blood on her hands. “Keep him on complete bedrest for the next three days and off his feet as much as possible for a week after that so he doesn’t undo my hard work and we’ll call it even.”

Ben doesn’t look like he agrees, but he nods without comment.

She’s too tired to deal with this amount of attention, so she pushes to her feet. “Give him plenty of fluids to help him replenish his blood. Don’t give him a blood replenishing pill for two days. His system is too weak from the blood loss to withstand the extra tax the pill will put on it right now.”

“Understood. Though we don’t have pills like that, Sakura-san.”

 _Honestly!_ She refrains from rolling her eyes. Tobirama’s laboratory has been built for a couple weeks, but he’s insistent on doing the interior himself so it measures up to his standards and it will take at least three more weeks to finish by her estimate, so she can’t do it, but… “I’m fairly sure the Nara would be willing to sell you some. Unfortunately it will be a few weeks before I have the means to make some myself. And oh. Would you be willing to share the recipe for that styptic, if it’s made by your clan? The efficacy is quite impressive.”

“I’ll ask.” Ben replies noncommittally.

“Fair enough.” She waves a bloody hand at him. “I’m off to clean up now.”

 _And to eat a solid meal._ She can, of course, go longer and heal multiple people in a row without rest or food, but there’s no need to endure at the moment and it’s been a while since she has had to do a surgery alone and without implements to aid her. _Clearly she’s out of practice for it to tax her this much_.

~

“What are you doing?”

Ahana twitches and looks over her shoulder at her. “Ah, Sakura-sama. Just watching the rain.”

“Want some company?” She certainly has no urge to brave the downpour to resume her paperwork.

“You are kind to an old lady. Come, pull up another chair and sit with me.”

The dining room has many chairs handy, so it is a simple enough matter to grab the nearest one and drag it over to watch out the window with Ahana. The gardens have a sort of misty gloom in the rain, as if possessed of the magic of some fairytale about a cursed maiden.

It’s lovely in a way and makes her all the gladder to not be out on a mission getting drenched. Frequent rains are a hazard during Fire Country springs, and she’s been caught in them far too many times in the six years since she graduated from Academy.

“This brings back memories, but it’s beautiful.”

Ahana makes an agreeing noise. “It reminds me of my idiot son.”

“Oh? You had a son?”

“Have. Fool boy ran off in the worst rainstorm of the decade to become a samurai. Found out a few years later that he succeeded. Unfilial brat. I spoiled him too much.”

Sakura lets the silence rest for a few long moments, then says, “People are strange. They often spit in the face of those who have sacrificed the most for them and pat themselves on the back for it.”

Certainly, the way Naruto had been treated as a child was proof of that. A sharp pang of homesickness for her sunny teammate, her half-crazy teammate, her two weirdo senseis and her shishou cuts through her. No doubt they’re all carrying on just fine without her, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t miss them. It’s not that she wants to trade what she has here to go back. This is beyond price and as much as she misses her makeshift family, she never wants to go back to being the lonely, ugly forehead girl. The only boy from _then_ who would have been willing to marry her would probably have been Sasuke and she has enough self-respect to have dropped that brand of crazy a couple years ago. Even Naruto didn’t see her as a potential girlfriend by that time. It seems like an eternity ago.

Though, she supposes, it might as well be.

“Don’t dwell too hard, girl, or the memories will eat you alive.” Ahana says, touching her wrist and startling her out of her reverie.

“I miss them.” It’s stupid, but she has to blink back hot tears.

Ahana gives her a gentle, assessing look. “Time blurs the loss, Sakura-sama, but it doesn’t soften it. All you can do is remember the good moments and learn from the bad ones. It’s impossible to change what has passed. Could haves and should haves just tear more holes in your heart. At most we can correct the present and promise ourselves to do better next time.”

Sakura sighs and rubs her hands over her face. “Yeah. I guess so.”

This time it is Ahana who lets the silence settle before breaking it. “Indulge an old woman’s curiosity?”

“Hmn?”

“What is that purple diamond mark on your forehead? Is it a clan marking?”

Sakura touches her Strength of a Hundred seal idly. “Oh this? No. My shishou taught it to me. It’s like a storage scroll for my chakra. I can heal _a lot_ with the stored chakra, if needed.”

“More than a half-severed leg?”

“Ah, heard about that already? Yes. That much and more, many times over. I can even use it to heal my own fatal injuries, but I avoid needing to do that because every time I do need to do that it will shorten my lifespan a little.”

“A knife that cuts with both edges, eh?”

The patter of the rain grows over the silence before Sakura replies softly, “Yeah. It does that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harunoshin (春の心) (spring heart) - Google translate insists it’s pronounced ‘Haru no kokoro’. Ah, the misadventures of finding an appropriate name in a foreign language, haha.
> 
> Henna comes in a variety of rusty red-brown shades. Ahana’s pick is one of the redder ones.
> 
> Ben interprets her request for the styptic recipe as a method of repayment for the ‘favor’ he owes her. Seo actually bought the recipe off a highly respected doctor in the capital years ago and makes his own, so he's perfectly willing to give Sakura a copy of it in thanks.
> 
> Styptics are to prevent infection and slow bleeding.
> 
> Serious cuts to major veins or arteries results in bleeding to the point of fatal shock within 5-10mins on average. It’s a downright miracle that Seo’s attempt at patching his didn’t result in them exploding instead and that they didn’t give out on the trip home before Sakura even heard about it. He only knows the little bit he does about healing for the same reason he carries a powerful styptic: he’s fundamentally opposed to unnecessary blood loss.
> 
>  _“A knife that cuts with both edges.”_ – You may be more familiar with the saying, _“A double-edged sword.”_ Ahana is a peasant, so she uses a more colloquial form of the saying. Ah, google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Basically, something that can hurt you as much as it can help you.
> 
> And then her wives come in from elsewhere in the house, complaining about the rain being depressing and absolutely break the mood. Sakura ends up with Izuna and Tobirama on the floor, leaning against her chair on opposite sides while Hinami leans against Ahana’s chair.  
> Riko walks in a short time later, snorts and walks right back out again, cooing to little Sawako about how silly her parents are.


	5. Politics, Arrivals and Roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elections are discussed, unexpected visitors, and _the rose strikes back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bits may be a bit clumsy, idk. Unedited.  
> Some comments have not yet been answered because I've been writing.  
> And now I'm going to go faceplant in my pillow and hope sleep cures my exhaustion.

“Do you have anything to contribute to this discussion, Sakura-san?” Inori Yamanaka asks.

“Actually, I do. Two things. First, we are discussing the election to be between Madara and Hashirama only, correct?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I think that whoever is elected first, it should be with the understanding that the other will become the second Hokage. And after that, open up elections to a wider pool of candidates. This way, we will be seen as not favoring one clan over the other, which can lead to hard feelings.” She had learned of the true situation of Sasuke’s clan at the time of the massacre and it still sickened her that the Uchiha really _did_ have a legitimate grievance with Konoha. As one of the two founding clans, they should have been handed equal power. Even on brief acquaintance with Madara, she can see how he would find it intolerable and rebel. Although she has no idea what it was that tipped the scale into madness, there’s no reason to allow the situation to recreate itself.

There is a brief hesitation as the Council members digest this, then Shikao Nara nods, “Excellent idea. What is your other concern?”

She steeples her hands under her chin. “We should put an age limit on how old one can be when elected to office. Say age 55? It does Konoha little good if her Hokage’s ability starts degrading due to age. I’m not saying that a Hokage can’t _keep_ office past that age. Certainly, some maintain their ability for years past that, but as for new candidates, those above that age should be considered as more suited to be elders rather than leaders.”

This garners a variety of looks commenting on her young age affecting her idea of ‘elders’, but most of the Clan heads are in their twenties and thirties at most, only two or three over the age of forty. If she was recalling correctly, the average lifespan in the Warring Clans era is about 30. She’s not _terribly_ young for this time period. So they consider her opinion rather than rejecting it outright.

Surprisingly, it is Mujin Uzuki, one of the oldest Clan heads, who agrees first. “I believe that Sakura-san is correct. Perhaps we can form an Elder’s Council to work with the council which deals with civilian matters and to advise the Clan Council? We are forming a separate council to deal with civilian matters soon, are we not? I don’t think any of us want to handle this much paperwork indefinitely and it’s only going to grow from here as Konoha grows.”

“I like that idea!” Arata Shimura announces. “We can have civilians handle civilian matters and requiring them to work with the Elder Council will ensure that shinobi concerns are addressed properly as well. And an Elder Council is sure to be useful for advising diplomatic situations.”

_Well, that sounds more useful than the three person Civilian Council in her own timeline that was made up entirely of retired ninjas. And hopefully it will prevent Danzo from ever being elected to wear the hat. That had gone…badly. With any luck it will also prevent him from getting his hands on brainwashed minions to create his own personal army._

~

“Sakura.”

She looks up from her book at the slightly clumsy voice. “Jiro?”

“Hinami say guests want see kitchen. One Clan head.”

 _And she can guess which one, at that._ “Alright.” She puts her book aside and stands. “Are they already in the kitchen?”

The ninken shakes his head. “Guest lounge.”

“Hm. Is that them being polite or Hinami being firm?”

“Think polite.”

“That’s good.” It is, really. The Harunoshin clan is small and new, and the only reason they’re accorded any respect is a combination of her wives’ reputations and her brothers-in-law supporting her authority. A noble clan as old and well-connected as the Akimichi have little reason to be polite unless they want to.

Unsurprisingly, Chouki Akimichi and three of his clan members are waiting patiently. Chouki chatting casually with Hinami. Two of them are males typical of the Akimichi clan, one a teenager and one old enough that his hair is visibly graying. Both civilian by her estimate. Slightly more surprising is the Nara she doesn’t recognize, sitting next to the sole female member of the group. The Akamichi girl is a couple years younger than her and resembles Chouki enough to be main house, but… Sakura notes with a frown, she’s also visibly too thin and clearly favoring one side, not to mention depressed looking. They should be asking for her expertise on improving the kunoichi’s condition, not to look at the kitchen, in her professional opinion.

“Ah, Sakura-san. I see you’ve been apprised of our visit.” Chouki beams at her, breaking off his conversation with Hinami. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, would you allow us to take a thorough look at your kitchen? I’ve never seen one so well equipped before and my clan members aren’t willing to take my word for it.”

“Of course. Hinami and I will be happy to show them to you.” She acquiesces, very familiar with the Akimichi obsession with food. It’s why she’d had the conviction to assume that even the Clan head would be familiar with the basics and ask for his help.

Hinami shows the three Akamichi men around, explaining things, while the Akamichi girl stations herself next to Sakura, looking around curiously. Despite favoring her left side and her Nara companion’s hovering, she stands steadily enough, assessing the kitchen with a shrewd look.

“What are those?” She finally asks, indicating the refrigerators set partway into the wall.

“They’re basically cold boxes. Tobirama inscribed them with seals to maintain a specific temperature. They’re based on the idea of refrigerators that the Land of Snow has recently begun to sell to the very wealthy, so we call them refrigerators. Needless to say, the real thing runs on electricity and it most likely will be several years before the price comes down enough that we can afford one. The larger door there is a walk-in freezer. Its temperature is also maintained with seals. Tobirama’s brainchild, but he could likely be persuaded to sell his skills and create a similar room for your clan. Or clans, as the case may be.” She tips her head towards the Nara to indicate that she’s acknowledging him as a possible representative of his clan as well.

“Hm. Your wife seems much more familiar with the kitchen?”

“Ah, that. After I accidentally poured soy sauce in my coffee, I’m not allowed to use the kitchen other than for getting a glass of water.” Her tone is dry as dust. _Honestly, she’d thought she’d grabbed the creamer!_

It brings the first hint of a smile to the girl’s face. “Is it acceptable if I take over this kitchen along with Shuichiroh and Shu?”

Sakura blinks, because _what?_ “I suppose. You want me to hire you?”

She shakes her head. “Oh, no. Father didn’t warn you? He believes that you require more clan members. Shuichiro and Shu have been feeling rather unneeded of late and have been looking for a new situation. And I- Well, I’m a cripple, aren’t I? Cooking is the only thing I have left. I’m asking if you’re willing to have us join your clan.”

“Oh.” This isn’t what she had expected. “The three of you? Or four of you?”

“Three.” The Nara answers for the girl. “I’d come with, but my older sister would probably murder me if I tried. I’m one of her advisors. By your expression, Sakura-sama, I’m assuming Chouki-oji sprang this on you and you have no idea who we are. I’m Rokuhito, Shikao’s third child, and this is Hirari, Chouki-oji’s third child. I’ve heard you’re a healer?”

For a moment, Sakura just stares at the boy for the non sequitur, then chuckles. “I am at that.”

“Knock it off, Roku.” Hirari snaps. “The healers said there’s nothing more to be done. You _know_ that.”

“It’s alright.” Sakura assures her. “I’ve been waiting for someone to ask. And I’m not so foolish as to say no if Akimichi want to join my clan and your Clan head approves. I assume he does approve, given that he’s brought you over?”

“You assume correctly. It was his idea. I’m a burden to my clan, but I can be somewhat useful here.”

“Not just somewhat.” Sakura admits. “I give it another week or three before Hashirama conveniently forgets he’s not supposed to invite a large party of people over without asking first. And once he realizes that we now have enough people to more or less handle that, he’ll no doubt do it more often.”

Hirari blinks at her for a bit, then grins. “No wonder you’re willing to have us then, Sakura-sama. Though it would probably be better to find more people to help out in those situations.”

“I’m aware.” She grimaces. “Though that will have to wait until Hinami finds appropriate people. At least Ahana is our dining room hostess, so we don’t have to worry about that.”

Rokuhito looks curious for a moment. “So Hinami-san is the wife who runs your household?”

“Ah, no, that’s Izuna. Hinami is in charge of people. And Tobirama is in charge of making things and obtaining equipment such as the stoves.”

“Hm. I can send some people her way, then.” He offers casually.

She shrugs. “You’ll have to take that up with her. Hirari, I’d like to do that medical checkup on you as soon as possible. There may not be anything I can do, but I do know more advanced medical techniques than the average healer. Most likely Izuna will arrange a room for you on this floor, and rooms on one of the other floors for the two others.”

“Yes, Sakur-” Hirari begins, only to be cut off.

“Ah, so you agreed, Sakura-san.” Chouki says, startling her as she hadn’t noticed him approach. “I thank you.”

Sakura gives him a half smirk. “You know I should be the one thanking you, right?”

“Then we can thank each other.” He says, amusement in his eyes. “Is three days too soon to have their things sent over?”

“That should be fine, Chouki-sama.” Hinami answers for her, seeming calm about the topic; so she had apparently been aware of what was happening well before Sakura had clued in. “I’ll let Izuna know to prepare three rooms.”

Shortly after, the five of them depart and Hinami slumps against the nearest wall. “Well, that was nerve-wracking. I didn’t think he’d taken _that much_ of a liking to us until I opened the damned door and… Just. This isn’t going to happen often, is it?”

“Doubtful. And if it does, it will be the weirdest thing I’ve ever encountered, and that includes time travel to an alternate universe.” Sakura grumbles in exasperated sympathy. _Though given Team 7’s luck, she’ll encounter something even weirder instead._

~

Sakura opens the front door and winces as Hashirama screams, high pitched and loud in surprise, and then watches in astonishment as he flails backwards clumsily, falling arse-first into the wild rose growing beside the steps.

She winces again at that. It’s a very _thorny_ bush and rose thorns are prone to festering. Even promptly with prompt removal and treatment against infection, the wounds hurt several times that of an ordinary splinter. Also? She’s not looking forward to seeing her brother-in-law’s rear end to remove the thorns.

Shooting a look at Madara, who is eyeing Hashirama with a conflicted expression, she demands, “Is he _always_ like that?”

“Who knew he was scared of doors?” He answers obliquely.

 _Right. Doors. She kind of doubts that._ “Ugh. Just go pull him out. And Hashirama? You owe me a new rose. Also? I’m charging you for thorn removal.”

“What?” Hashirama asks, sounding bewildered. He accepts Madara’s offered hand and yelps repeatedly as he is pulled out. “Why? I was going to ask Mito to take them out.”

“Hello? Medic here?” She waves her hand in front of his face. “Unless you _want_ to have sepsis from your ass? Have you never seen what rose thorns can do?”

His face warms. “Uh, right. I’ll have one of the clan medics treat it properly. No offense, but if I let you see my ass, Tobirama will kill me.”

“Not if Izuna gets to you first.” Madara says drily.

“See? I’ll just…uh, go do that now. And you can go about doing whatever you were planning to do, while Madara visits Izuna and Sawako.”

She raises an unimpressed eyebrow at them, then shrugs. It’s not something she _wants_ to do, after all. “Right. I’ll do that then. Madara, you should probably know that it’s Izuna’s turn to make lunch and he just made a new batch of his spicy sauce.”

Madara winces. “Thanks for warning me.”

Sakura pats his arm in passing and continues on her way to doing more unwanted paperwork at the Tower. Until they have the system set up properly, the Clan heads are splitting the burden of administration paperwork. She’s just glad that her clan is still small and most of the duties of taking care of it are already split between her wives. Fewer headaches is _always_ a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura: How do I keep Madara from defecting and keep Danzo out of power in the future? Without revealing _why_ , because that’s need-to-know only. Hm…
> 
> Hirari Akimichi, young female, crippled, main house, third child of Chouki Akimichi. About 16.  
> 2 male civilian Akimichi - Shu (teenager) is the grandson of Shuichiroh (older man).  
> Nara, Rokuhito - 鹿 (roku, shika, ka) meaning "deer", 仁 ( _hito_ ) meaning "benevolence" – second son, third child of Shikao Nara. About 16.  
> His older brother is Rokuro (鹿 (roku, shika, ka) meaning "deer", _郎_ _(rō)_ meaning "son").  
> His eldest sister is Shikari (鹿 (roku, shika, ka) meaning "deer", 李 (ri) meaning "plum").  
> Headcanon that only heirs inherit the Ino/Shika/Cho names, but younger children have names using the same characters or with the same meaning. Hirari means butterfly.
> 
> Hirari gets first floor accommodations due to her injury, but it might have been offered on her status alone if not for that.  
> Shuichiroh and Shu get second floor accommodations.
> 
> Rose thorns can cause some extremely nasty fungal infections, if I recall. And they hurt like fuck, even the little ones. Wild roses have a distinct tendency towards a multitude of needle sharp thorns that make cultivated roses look positively unarmed. It’s best to approach them with thick gloves, preferably leather since they go right through cloth if un-reinforced. Generally picking roses is best done with shears, since they leave a cleaner wound _(less risk of the plant getting a fatal infection)_ and remove most of the risk of thorns to the fingers. I 100% recommend never landing ass-first in a wild rose bush. Ever.  
> This scene was inspired by my sister screaming in my face when I opened the door to my room to exit while she was reaching for it with the intention of entering. After I was done cringing at the volume, I may have laughed in her face.


	6. Favors, Laws and Threats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura is lectured on collecting favors, Clan marriage laws are defined, and Sakura threatens Tobirama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sorry.

“Sakura-sama, there is a Seo Kato wishing to see you.” Ahana informs her.

“Oh?” She puts down the rare medical text that Izuna has somehow managed to obtain for her and stands. “I suppose he wants to thank me for saving his leg, now that he’s off mandatory rest.”

Ahana shrugs, clearly not interested. “Should I prepare tea for him?”

She thinks about that and then sighs. “Sure, go ahead. If he doesn’t stay long enough for it, I’ll drink it with you instead.”

That gains her a brilliant smile and puts her in a better mood. Honestly, it’s nice to be thanked, but it would be nicer if it was done when she’s busy with her public duties rather than intruding on her free time.

Seo rises from the couch he’s been waiting on as soon as he sees her, a shy smile lighting his face. “Sakura-sama.”

“Welcome, Seo-san. What brings you here today?”

“Well, I wanted to thank you for keeping me alive and saving my leg. But mostly I came over to bring you the styptic recipe as my thanks. And to tell you that it’s _mine_ to give, which I also told Ben-sama, so the clan still owes you a favor if you ever wish to collect on it.”

“Ah.” She blinks a few times as she processes that, then inclines her head. “Well, I thank you for that, though I had no intention of collecting on it to begin with. I'm a healer. Healing is what I do. I need no favors for that, and I would not have asked for the recipe if I had known it is your personal property. Though I appreciate the gesture, you don’t have to give it to me.”

Seo stares at her for a long, uncomfortable moment and then facepalms with a beleaguered sigh. “Sakura-sama, _all_ healers are recompensed fairly for their work and you wish to train me, which is an extraordinary compliment given your level of skill. Ben-sama has mentioned that you wish to run the hospital which will be built, so I know that you’ll use my recipe to help others instead of to gain profit. I have no problem with giving you the recipe when it will be used that way. And as for favors, Sakura-sama, were you perhaps a civilian? Because as a Clan head you cannot _afford_ to not collect favors. All Clan heads do such to benefit their clans. Now so even more because so many clans are working together and pressing each other to do things the way _they_ wish to have them done. Your voice is _heard_ in politics, but it can be _ignored_ if you do not have favors and further alliances with clans beyond the Senju and Uchiha to call on for support. Just accept the damned favor and save it for when you need it!”

“I- Uh…” It’s her turn to stare at him, thoroughly taken aback at the unexpected scolding.

He takes a small scroll out of a pocket and thrusts it into her hand. “Here. I’ll see myself out. Just think about it Sakura-sama.”

The door slams after him a moment later.

It’s a few minutes later when Ahana comes in and finds her staring blankly at the small scroll in her hand.

“Sakura-sama? Ah, he left then. The tea is ready if you wish some.”

She follows Ahana into the dining room without answering and takes a seat at the small table near the windows overlooking the gardens where the tea is waiting to be poured.

Ahana pours tea for both of them and sits across from her. “So?”

“Do you think he’s right?”

“About what?”

“Needing people to owe me favors because I’m a Clan head now?”

“Hm.” Ahana sips her tea while she contemplates. “Perhaps ‘need’ is the wrong word, but I think you’ll find it very difficult in the future at possibly critical times, if you are not owed at least a few favors. People are… How to say? Social position uses alliances and favors as a currency, just like markets use goods and money as a currency. And there are very few social positions that hold more responsibility than that of Clan head.”

“Oh.” The very notion of needing to hold favors over people’s heads to gain what she needs or wants is unpleasant, but apparently she needs to learn how. It’s a little frightening, really. She’s not like Ino who can navigate social stuff easily and manipulate it at whim.

“That said, how you choose to _utilize_ favors is up to you. Having a reputation for being kind and thrifty is rarely a bad thing. You’ve been having trouble getting the Council to set a date for the construction of the hospital you want, correct? That is something you could use a favor for that would not be a great inconvenience to the one who owes it to you.”

Sakura blinks at Ahana, then grins. “That’s _brilliant_! I never thought of that.”

Ahana smiles at her over her mug of tea. “Glad to be of help.”

~

She had known that the Hagoromo clan had volunteered to send some of its higher ranking members around to write down copies of each clan’s marriage laws so Konoha would have a copy of each and a baseline for setting down marriage laws for the village at large, but she hadn’t considered the possibility that her father-in-law himself would take that task on for _her_ clan. Sakura wills down an inconvenient blush as they all settle down to business in the family room.

“So. I believe that our first order of business is actually making a Clan record of your marriage practices. Do you want to restrict multiple marriage partners to being the right of the Clan head?”

Sakura has no idea how to answer that, so she looks at her wives. Who look at each other, then nod.

“It is open to anyone in the clan who wishes to be a husband. Wives and concubines excluded, naturally.” Hinami says, surprising her.

“So you are allowing concubines as well?”

“No.” Sakura denies.

“Yes.” Two of her three wives say at the same time.

She blinks at Tobirama and Hinami, then looks at Izuna for his opinion.

He shrugs. “I suppose I have nothing against concubines, though I’m not sure about the purpose.”

“Helpers to the wives.” Tobirama says promptly, as if it’s a foregone conclusion.

Izuna blinks, then grins. “In that case, yes.”

“I see.” Koushi clears his throat and gives Sakura a sympathetic look. “And is there a maximum limit on the number of wives allowed?”

“Thr-” Sakura begins, only to have all three of her wives speak over her emphatically.

“Three!”

Koushi doesn’t bother hiding a snicker of amusement at their expense as he writes that down. “Alright, three seems to be unanimous for number of wives. Is there a maximum number of concubines? And can concubines be promoted to wife status?”

“Maximum of three, one for each wife.” Sakura says in a dry tone. _Not that she needs **any**_. “And no, I don’t think they should be able to be promoted. If a concubine is there to help a wife, then there should be no option of them killing the wife off to get their position.” _Team 7 has had some **weird** missions, okay?_

“That makes sense. Wives are forever, but concubines can change at need.” Izuna agrees, nodding as if this extrapolation is perfectly logical.

 _Just what she needs, a constant changeover of ‘concubines’_. Hastily she adds, “That change should only happen if both parties agree that the position isn’t working for them or if a concubine specifically asks to be let out of the position or if keeping the concubine in that position is deemed harmful enough to dissolve the relationship.”

Her father-in-law hmmns as he writes, but no one objects to or embellishes on that. “For these positions, are they platonic or otherwise?”

All three of her wives scowl at that, but refrain from answering.

Sakura eyes them, then sighs. “It should be optional, depending on the individuals, just as it should be for wives.”

Hinami huffs but looks satisfied. “If a wife relationship is platonic, the wife should provide an heir through other means, as I have.”

“That’s fair.” Tobirama agrees. “If the husband and wife are the same gender, it should be a requirement there as well.”

“Or if the wife is physically unable to provide an heir of the body for other reasons.” Izuna pipes in.

She gives all three of them dust-dry looks, but knows that they’re thinking of her position of Clan head and the responsibilities that brings with it. “Unless the husband doesn’t want heirs. Not everyone will, I think, and not all of them will need to, either.”

Hinami wrinkles her nose. “Fine, but that should be required for the Clan head’s marriages.”

Honestly, Sakura has no answer for that. She grimaces. “Okay, that’s fair, I suppose.”

“And in cases that are controversial, the Clan head decides if the relationship stands or is dissolved.” Koushi adds, not even bothering to make it a question. Which, _fair,_ he’s the one with experience as a Clan head. “Can a husband remarry if all three of his or her wives die?”

Sakura scowls. “No. Not unless they have to because there’s no heirs from any wife or concubine and the clan itself needs an heir.”

“So only the Clan head may, and only if there are no existing heirs acceptable to the clan?” Koushi clarifies.

Izuna pokes her. “Don’t argue this one. You won’t win.”

“…Yeah. Okay. Fine.” _So what if she sounds sulky? It’s not like she has any context for this stuff._

“Very good. Now, you’ll need to set up clan laws on what things get what punishments, stuff like that. But this is all I need for the Konoha marriage laws council, so I’ll just make a copy for that and let you discuss those on your own time. If you need advice, you can ask me or Madara or Hashirama, or the elders of our respective clans. Just don’t forget to do the basic laws soon or you’ll regret it when you actually need them.”

 _Urgh. Laws._ But she knows he’s right. The clan can’t afford not to grow and with more people will come more conflict and it’s better to have laws already in place to deal with infractions of common sense. Better to preempt future headaches.

~

“Just so you know, if you ever sacrifice yourself to save others when you could have prevented it, I will bring you back with Edo Tensai and let you know at extreme length exactly how I feel about that.” Sakura’s threat may seem out of the blue, but she’s just remembered how Tobirama had died in her timeline, and it’s a threat she stands by.

Tobirama frowns at her. “Edo Tensai is not complete. And no one knows how to use it besides me. I’m not going to teach it to you.”

Sakura resists the urge to punch him in irritation over the non-answer. Like hell she’s going to let one of her wives martyr himself. She keeps her tone casual and airy as she replies, “Oh, someone used your notes to recreate it in the future. I’ve seen it used often enough that I’m sure I can figure it out with a little reading through your notes on it.”

A long silence drags out as Tobirama stares at her with a complicated expression, apparently waiting for her to elaborate. Too bad for him that she has no intention of doing so. Finally he says in a grudging tone, “I promise to come back to you if I can.”

Internally she counts to ten and breathes through the irritation his tone provokes. She knows him well enough to know he doesn’t begrudge the promise, just the threat to use his own invention against him. “Then _make sure_ you can!”

Well. That didn’t come out calmly at all.

Oops.

She blinks to find her nose suddenly against Tobirama’s chest as he hugs her. The man can move ridiculously fast when motivated to.

“I love you too.” His voice is a little rough with emotion. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I don’t do things halfway, Sakura. As long as there’s breath in my body, I’ll drag myself home to you.”

“Good.” Hugging him back, she clenches one hand into a fist and the other hand over it. “I know- I know I can’t make you promise to win against a small army on your own, but- But at least promise me that you’ll find a way to kill the Gold and Silver brothers without dying yourself?”

“Hm.” He leans back a little to look down at her. “You mean that pair of brothers from Lightning, who are so idiotic that even the Kyuubi spit them out rather than risk contamination?”

Sakura snorts in wry humor at the description. “Powerful idiots are the worst kind. They can do the impossible. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that they _survived_ being eaten?”

“You think they stole some of the Kyuubi’s power?”

She sighs. Presuming that things will go the same here as in her past is not something she wants to do. “Is that not common knowledge yet?”

“There’s been a few rumors, but it was fairly recent as incidents go.” His gaze goes thoughtful for a moment. “We should tell Anija and Madara about this. If they’re a threat to someone of my skill, they’re a threat to all of Konoha. It might be better to preempt the threat.”

“Huh. Okay.” _That_ possibility hadn’t even occurred to her, but it’s not like he’s wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are referencing clan laws in general, not marriage-specific punishments.
> 
> The laboratory is now finished.
> 
> Tobirama privately burns all his notes on Edo Tensai ASAP, just in case.
> 
> Madara and Hashirama are all for going and killing the brothers themselves, right off the bat, but Tobirama manages to talk them into waiting until he can come up with a counter for the bijuu chakra they hold. Cuz political incident reasons. Instead, they put out an all-points bulletin to Konoha ninjas to make note of the brothers if they come across them and to not engage, if at all possible.
> 
>  _Did I mention that Madara becomes Hokage?_ Konoha goes through that formal establishment ceremony. Madara officially is elected to wear the Hat and becomes Shodaime.  
> Take a moment here to contemplate the sheer, dumbfounded shock on Madara’s face when he learns that he’s been elected.  
> And Hashirama’s ridiculously pleased bear hug of delight at the news. Madara’s too dazed to react to the hug at all.  
> Not dragging the war out for unnecessary years means that Madara’s popularity is quite a bit higher than in canon. He’s still surprised that they didn’t elect the sociable and more powerful Hashirama over him, though, because he’s aware of his own flaws.


	7. Rabies, Present, Dream and Drunken Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mad dog, Izuna brings a present, Sakura dreams about the past, and Katsuya.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woozy tired so I probably missed something. Feel free to point out stuff or ask. I'm gonna go faceplant for the night.

“Sakura-sama! Sakura-sama!”

The amount of desperation in the unknown voice has her turning and handing over Sawako to Ichika before turning to the person calling for her. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“Sakura-sama, please come! Arata-sama’s wife and youngest child were attacked by a mad dog. The child is beyond help, but Mio-sama was savaged and the clan healers have stopped the bleeding but are refusing to do more, saying that it’s a waste of effort because she’ll go mad in two weeks at best. Arata-sama is furious at them and refusing to listen and insists that if she can be saved, you can save her. Can you-? Can you save her?” The Shimura clansman pants out, looking miserable, as if he’s expecting the worst news.

“Was the dog foaming at the mouth?”

“Yes.” The man says with fatalistic certainty.

“Hydrophobia, then. Has the dog’s body been disposed of?”

“Not yet. Mio-sama is too badly injured to move far enough away.”

“Excellent. Then I can save her. Give me a few moments to fetch my medical bag and I will accompany you back.” She doesn’t wait for him to process the reply, running into the house and grabbing the bag with her surgical supplies and a scroll with extra syringes in it and several sets of medical gloves.

The brief break has been long enough for the other ninja to regain his breath and he sets a quick pace to Shimura lands.

When they arrive, Sakura doesn’t hesitate to go to the dog’s corpse first and take several syringes worth of blood to develop a vaccine from. More than immediately healing the woman, the vaccine is important to Mio-san’s survival. The Shimura clan healers aren’t wrong in their diagnosis, after all. Without the vaccine, she’s as good as dead already, because rabies drives a victim mad before killing them. Sealing the full syringes and the gloves she’d used to handle them into a small storage scroll meant to keep infectious materials contained safely, she grimaces at the child’s corpse nearby and stands.

“Make sure both corpses are incinerated. I will make a vaccine, but there’s no point in leaving around sources of infection.”

“Yes, Sakura-sama.” Someone, she doesn’t see who, acknowledges.

She turns to find Arata Shimura clutching _(presumably)_ his wife close, alternating between glaring at the clan’s healers and reassuring the woman. He doesn’t seem to notice her, even when she crouches down beside him, pulling on clean gloves.

“Arata? I can save Mio-san, but I need you to put her down so I can treat her. Can you do that for me?”

The man hesitates, seeming to be having trouble focusing on her.

“Anata, lay me down so Sakura-sama can treat me.” Mio says in a weak but firm voice, feebly patting at his arm.

Slowly, he complies, barely moving back enough to not be looming over his wife. But it’s enough. Sakura sets to work, mending torn flesh. Both with medical jutsu and needle and thread. _Just because she **can** heal it all with medical jutsu doesn’t mean she should if other options are available. Particularly when the patient more civilian in chakra usage than not._

It is a couple hours later by the time she sits back. “She’s stable for now.” She deposits this pair of gloves and her surgical tools into the infectious materials scroll too. “Since we don’t have a hospital for now, I think it would be best to have her stay in my house so that it’s easier to give her the vaccinations she’ll need for the hydrophobia.”

She almost falls over in surprise when someone grabs her shoulder.

“Sakura-sama? Vaccinations can be made for hydrophobia?”

“Of course.” She frowns at the intrusive medic. Then she remembers that vaccinations were only used for preventing polio and small pox in the Warring Clans era, and not used widely at that. That at least explains why the healers had diagnosed Mio-san’s case as hopeless. In the heat of the moment it hadn’t struck her as odd. But now… No, she’s just tired. “In general, a vaccination can be made for any infectious disease. Many of them require temperature control storage, however. And the only place that currently has that is my laboratory. Once the hospital is built properly, I’ll teach others how to make vaccines.”

The woman looks astounded. “You’re…willing to teach me?”

“Yes.” Or more like she’ll teach Hashirama and make _him_ teach everyone else, because patient she is not. Her brother in law is far more personable than she is anyway. “But for now, I need a shower and to let Izuna know we’ll be having a guest for a couple weeks.”

“Ah, of course, Sakura-sama.” The woman releases her shoulder and retreats enough for her to stand easily. Fortunate, since Sakura would have hated to ruin the moment by punching her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Sakura casts a glance at Arata, who still looks vastly traumatized by his wife’s near brush with death. And probably by his son’s death too, come to think on it. “Make sure Mio-san gets to my house safely. And Arata-san gets some rest and food. If you want to come along to tend Mio-san, that would be appreciated too. We have plenty of room.”

~

“Anata!” Izuna singsongs with suspicious cheer. “I have a present for you!”

Sakura looks up and promptly chokes. “Kakashi-sensei!?”

Kakashi looks almost as startled as she is.

She jumps up and all but throws herself at him, hugging him tightly. He stands uncomfortably for a long moment, then gives her a quick return hug, just as quickly released.

Taking the cue, she steps back and asks, “What are you doing here?”

“Saa… About that, I have no idea. I was fighting Kaguya about an hour ago and then I think I- no, _Obito_ used Kamui and I ended up here. How did you end up here?”

“I’m not really sure either, but I think Obito-san might have used Kamui on me? I landed in the middle of an Uchiha-Senju skirmish about seven months or so ago. And, um, I’m married and have a kid now.”

He looks baffled at this information. “I see. And who’s the Sasuke look-alike?”

Her lips quirk up into a smirk without her permission. “Rather, Sasuke looks like him. Izuna is Madara Uchiha’s younger brother and one of my three wives. Also, unlike Sasuke, he’s not an emotionally stunted egocentric asshole. Be nice to him, okay? He’s not a replacement.”

Izuna, at least, looks pleased with this statement.

Kakashi blinks slowly a few times and then asks, “Are you saying we somehow _time-travelled_ to the _Warring Clans_ era?”

Sudden humor bubbles up in her. “Oh, worse than that. This is an alternate world. People here have secondary forms.”

“But you _like_ my secondary form!” Izuna whines not very sincerely.

“Yes, Izuna, I do.” She reassures him drily, eyes fixed on Kakashi.

“‘Secondary forms?’” Kakashi-sensei asks with a glint in his eyes _(both, since his sharingan had been stolen and subsequently replaced via Naruto’s senjutsu)_ that reminds her distinctly of Tobirama about to go on a new research spree.

“I think I’ll let Tobirama explain that one. Izuna, can you take him to Tobirama? Good job bringing him here. And of course he’ll be staying with us, so he’ll need a room.” Then she remembers. “Ah, sensei? Your clan lives here if you want to visit them. But you may want to wait until I can warn them.”

“Yes, anata.” Izuna’s tone is all fake docility, likely an act for Kakashi’s sake. Sweet and willing to listen to her he may be, but the only time her wife is overtly docile is when he’s miserably sick with a hangover.

Kakashi gives her an indecipherable look, then eye smiles at her. “Of course, Sakura-chan. Being a husband is a good look on you.”

She’s still blushing in embarrassment when he follows Izuna out the door.

~

Sakura falls asleep in a Council meeting. In her dreams she relives the 4th War. Waves after waves of white Zetsu until she wakes herself up cursing.

Only to find the entire Council staring at her.

Shikao Nara clears his throat. “So, is this Zetsu someone we should be worried about?”

She rubs her temples. Time to explain pseudo-deity instigated madness. Preferably without naming names and turning people against Madara. Her brother in law has been doing so well lately; she’s so proud of him. No reason to ruin all his hard work, after all. “Ah. I guess I should explain about them. This is going to sound crazy, but…”

~

Sakura is _maaaybe_ a little drunker than she should be. She’d been under the impression that drinking seriously with Hashirama would be like drinking with her Shishou, Tsunade. Unfortunately, she has seriously underestimated the man’s capacity for alcohol.

Seriously. Like by five times that amount.

Besides her, the only people in the room who aren’t passed out cold are Shikao Nara _(she’s not sure how)_ , Hinami _(who’d had the sense to stop after one glass, regardless of Izuna’s urging)_ , Touka _(who has her chin propped on one hand and is staring so blankly that Sakura’s not convinced that she hasn’t just passed out with her eyes open)_ and Tobirama _(who is sipping leisurely and also apparently shares some of Hashirama’s freakish resistance to alcohol)_.

Of course, a fair number of Clan heads and/or their wives left _before_ they got quite to the point of passing out. Pussies. Well, they don’t count. And Hashirama. Who apparently is a tree. Who couldn’t drown in anything less than an _ocean_ of sake. She blames the Mokuton. Totally unfair cheat. Granted, she’s cheating too, but the Mokuton is super, uber, duper as a cheat skill. He’s barely even slurring! The cheat!

“Hey, hey, hey. Sakura! I’ve got a great idea!”

She squints at Hashirama. “Whazzit?”

“You should get a summons! I bet Tobirama could help you find one!” He declares, looking way too proud of himself for the declaration.

“Could.” Tobirama contributes, lifting his glass vaguely in their direction. He looks all lordly, what with Hinami leaning on his other shoulder and Izuna passed out with his head on his lap.

“Thas- Thas in _sult_ ing.” She informs them. “I have a summons. The bessh summons!”

“Really?” Hashirama looks dubious.

“Uh-huh.”

His expression turns gleeful and he claps like a little kid. “Prove it! I wanna see!”

She gives him the stinkeye, because there’s probably a good reason people don’t summon while drunk and she knows he’s in _citing_ her. Thinking makes her head hurt, though, so she gives it up for a bad job. “Fine!”

Sakura slams her hand on the table, blinks at the excessive amount of white smoke and then finds herself _sitting_ in a damned _swamp_.

Abruptly stone cold sober _(not really, but taking a moment to puke out excessive alcohol and running medical chakra through her system fixes that)_ she belatedly remembers that the contract she has with Katsuya is with the Katsuya of her _original_ timeline and that _maybe_ , just maybe, she’s about to be melted by an irritable gigantic slug who can spit acid at unwelcome visitors. Because _yeah_ , she recognizes this swamp.

_(Left behind, Hashirama stares blankly at the spot his sister in law has just disappeared from. Like magic! Then his gaze meets Tobirama’s. Tobirama, who is straightening slowly with an ominous gleam in his eyes. “Anija. What, exactly, did you do with my husband?”_

_“He poofed her.” Touka offers helpfully in a monotone voice._

_Tobirama blinks once, twice. “Anija, you should run now. You won’t like what will happen if I catch you.”_

_Hashirama surges to his feet, flailing and paying no mind to his chair clattering to the floor. “I didn’t do anything! It was magic!”_

_This does not noticeably lessen the fratricidal look on Tobirama’s face._

_Hinami jerks on his arm. “Don’t stand up. Izuna will be grumpy if you drop him on his face.”_

_Hashirama is so relieved when his otouto listens. He slaps a hand to his chest, takes a step back to shore up his balance and promptly trips backwards over the fallen chair. Unfortunately, the chair does not survive his collusion with the floor._

_There is a moment of silence, then Shikao offers in a contemplative tone, “That probably hurt the floor.”)_

And yup, that’s definitely Katsuya staring down at her curiously. Though the black and neon blue racing stripes on her sides are new. Definitely a ‘ _this universe’_ thing.

“I do not know you. But you have the traces of a contract with another me on you. I shall accept you. What is your name, human child of another world?”

“Sakura.” She replies blankly, completely taken aback at the lack of trial to be approved.

“Very well. You may call upon me at need, lady Sakura. For now, I’ll send you back to where you belong.”

Another excessive poof of white smoke billows around her and when it clears, she’s standing on a table, dripping swamp water. She looks around, spies Hashirama on the floor and winces. “What did that poor chair ever do to you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura doesn’t bother learning the dead child’s name _(she has other priorities, like healing Mio and creating a vaccine)_ , but if you’re wondering…  
> Yes, yes I did kill little Danzo off via mad dog attack.  
> I know, no such thing happened in canon, but remember, Konoha begins a few years early due to Sakura’s interference. _(Also, AU. Don’t tell me you weren’t aware of that, haha.)_ The mad dog otherwise would otherwise have encountered a ninja first, a fair distance from any settlements, and have been put down without incident.  
> Mio Shimura (Clan lady) recovers without complications, though Sakura ends up having to put up Arata along with Mio and the healer gal, because he refuses to leave his wife.
> 
> Unknown to Sakura, the Shimura healer gal, Umi, spreads around the news to the healers of a lot of other clans that Sakura is willing to teach them all the things _(vaccination making)._ Naturally this causes some excitement, various Clan heads get hounded about it and the next time the hospital comes up on the agenda, they just kind of sigh and go, _“Yes, yes, that’s going up next.”_ And a slightly bewildered Sakura finally gets her hospital. She and Hashirama share directorship, so they both still have time and opportunity to go out on missions that require their skills.
> 
>  _Meanwhile, Hinami picked up another clan member from a small town, while out on a mission:_  
>  Hisui Tsuji (Jade) (Crossroads)- Orphan female, age 12. Hair- red jade (darkish) color, Eyes- (dark) lavender jade color. Favorite color to wear: Jade green. Tsuji are a traveling clan. Her father died when she was 2. After mother died at age 5, clan left her with her non-clan father’s sister to raise. Aunt died about the time she turned 7 and she was kicked out onto the streets a few months later when her aunt’s husband decided to remarry. Since the Tsuji clan wasn’t impressed with her father, they really don’t feel like claiming responsibility for her. She’s managed to survive by doing chores in exchange for food and clothes, occasionally for shelter in bad weather; has a raspy cough that needs treatment, but has not yet turned dangerous.  
> She can use chakra, but she only ever had the basic chakra control exercise taught to her, so she really has no skills beyond that and isn’t interested in learning more. I don’t really feel like writing her much, though, so she’s just a clan messenger.
> 
> Kakashi: So are you a Haruno or an Uchiha?  
> Izuna: Harunoshin, actually. The Haruno clan didn’t like us using the name, even though we changed the clan symbol. Sakura is Clan head, btw.  
> Kakashi: As expected of my cute student.  
> Izuna: Why is that expected?  
> Kakashi: Well, Naruto’s the last Uzumaki, or was, officially. So he’s technically Clan head. And Sasuke’s the last Uchiha and son of the former Clan head, so he’s officially a Clan head. And Sakura’s the last of the Haruno as far as I know. Though some of them might have gone civilian? So, technically…  
> Izuna: Why would you be assigned a team like _that_?  
> Kakashi _(scratching his head all faux sheepishly)_ : Ah, well. That’s because my teacher was the 4th Hokage.  
> Izuna _(dubiously)_ : Yeah, well, my brother is the Shodaime, but I don’t think _I_ would be assigned a team like that.  
> Kakashi: _(abruptly starts coughing and sputtering, to Izuna’s bemusement)_
> 
> Credit to Black_Victor_Cachat for the Zetsu scene snip idea.
> 
> At some point the three wives sit down with Sakura to discuss what they’ve come up with for the Academy and ask if she has suggestions. She recommends: Basic medic courses (nonchakra), and beginner medic (chakra) for those with 80+percentile chakra control. Basic Nutrition. Turning the flower arranging classes for girls into ikebana for both genders to take. Basic ninja sex ed classes, and reading body language (ninja vs civilian) course.
> 
> Massive drinking party of Clan heads and close families, _mostly wives,_ vs Hashirama’s drinking capacity. The floor wins.


	8. Kakashi, Transformation, Summons, Spar and Accomplishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi meets some Hatakes, Hinami and Jiro try transformation, Tobirama and Izuna have summons, Kakashi and Sakura spar, the hospital and academy open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Nanowrimo reached up and slapped me in the face with an original story, so that's been distracting me. And probably will for some time yet, so the next chapter or so may be rather slow to write, too.

It seems that Kakashi sensei has forgotten her warning about the Hatake being a part of Konoha, because the first time they come across a group of them, he pales dramatically and promptly hides behind Sakura.

Given that he’s tall and she’s short, this isn’t very effective, but it _does_ get the point across rather unmistakably. He expects her to protect him from his own clan. _Of course_. She should have known. _No one_ on Team 7 can live without the maximum drama involved.

His peculiar choice of movement naturally draws the eye of every Hatake in the group.

The oldest one clears her throat. “Sakura-sama. How do you come to know an unknown Hatake?”

“He’s my jounin sensei. From the future.” Sakura pauses at the _‘what the fuck?’_ look that gets.

There is a long silence as the Hatake woman and her companions study them shrewdly. Finally, she speculates, “He’s the last one, isn’t he? That’s why he doesn’t want to talk to us.”

Sakura can _feel_ Kakashi sensei drooping abruptly behind her. _Oh, so that’s it_. Well, she supposes she can’t blame him for that; explaining that kind of thing isn’t the sort of task one looks _forward_ to. “Yes, he is.” She smirks. _Hiding behind her? He totally deserves it_. “You might say he wasn’t properly socialized. He’s been an orphan since about age 6. Did you know that he thinks _porn_ is proper reading material?”

“Sakurrra-channn, you’re so mean to me.” Kakashi pouts. “Mission reports are _proper_ reading. Icha Icha is _art_. And I read them for the plot, you know.”

“Puh- _lease_! I _have_ read some of them, Kakashi sensei. They are baldly wish fulfillment fantasies about my Shishou. Have some shame. She’s as old as Jiraiya was. Or do older women get you hot?” She turns, just to see the expression on his face. _It’s priceless_.

Kakashi turns bright red, spluttering incoherently. Finally, he pulls out an Icha Icha and hides behind it. He peeks over it a moment later. “That’s just creepy, Sakura-chan!”

She nods. “Just like the author of the series.”

Laughter breaks them out of their banter. “Don’t worry, puppy. We’ll recognize Sakura-sama’s claim on you. I’ll tell Sukio-sama myself. But don’t think you’ll get away with not socializing with the clan. We can track you down anytime.”

“Maa, maa… Is that so?” Kakashi asks, a gleam in his eyes as he looks at them over the ridiculous book.

Sakura groans. “Really? Did you _really_ have to challenge him? There’s a _reason_ he’s best friends with the most competitive man in Konoha.”

The Hatake woman chuckles. “A little competition is a good thing. Unless he’s kage level, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

 _Honestly!?_ Sakura facepalms. _Well, it’s not like she **has** to tell them that he was almost elected as Hokage (_to his mild horror _) before her Shishou had woken from her coma_. If they’re not going to take her advice, then on their own heads be it.

~

“So, how’s that transformation jutsu you were talking about last week?” Sakura asks Hinami idly.

“Well, we’ve sort of got it. It’s not quite there, but do you want to see?” Hinami has that shy look she gets when she’s proud of some accomplishment but not sure it’s good enough to earn praise from someone whose opinion she values.

Sakura resists the urge to reach up and pet her head. “Of course.”

It’s not a long walk to the nearest training area and once they get there, Hinami intones, “Man Beast Transformation Combo: Double-Headed Wolf.”

A moment later and Hinami and Jiro disappear, leaving a huge two headed dog with patches of blue and green feathers sticking up in haphazard patches. It’s actually rather amusing in how rumpled it makes them look. Sakura studies them for a moment, then nods. “Impressive. Were you going for adding wings?”

With a puff of chakra smoke, Hinami and Jiro turn back. “Yes.”

“Well, that will make you terrifying on a battlefield once you master it, but what you’ve got now is quite destructive in its own right.”

Hinami beams.

“Told you she wouldn’t laugh at us like Riko did.” Jiro tells Hinami, leaning against her companionably, a gesture that would send the unprepared sprawling given his size. Hinami barely sways at the sudden weight, well accustomed to this habit.

“And I agreed with you!” Hinami snaps back, smile not dimming at all. “We’ve still got a long way to go, but Riko and Kakashi-san have been working with us on coordination and technique stances for this form.”

Sakura chuckles. “Well, I don’t envy you the effort of coordinating extra limbs, but I’ll admire the results of it any time.”

~

So. She walks into the family room and the furniture and floor is absolutely covered in black cats and grey wolves. Stopping dead, she blinks a few times and then mutters “Kai!” under her breath just to _make sure_ she isn’t seeing things.

But no. There are still wolves all over the floor and cats littering the furniture, floor, and even a few on wolves and people. Tobirama and Izuna are casually lounging on the U, the chair/double lounge/perch thing. Well, okay, _Izuna_ is casually lounging, cat tucked against his chest and another across his knees, looking laughingly at Kakashi sensei who is play wrestling one of the wolves, and Tobirama is passed out cold, by the looks of it. Ahana is knitting in one of the cozy armchairs, with a cat on her lap and another on her feet, while one laying across the back of the chair seems to be talking casually to her.

Over thirty pairs of eyes swivel to stare at her soft mutter.

“Maa, maa, Sakura-chan. You’re not seeing things. The wolves are Tobirama’s summons and the kuronekos are Izuna’s summons. They’re quite friendly.”

A nearby cat reaches over and bops Kakashi sensei’s nose with a paw, claws sheathed. “Of course wolves like Hatakes. That doesn’t mean they or we are friendly in general.”

“Welcome home, anata.” Izuna says in a laughing tone. “Our summons are a little miffed that they haven’t gotten to meet you before this, so they all insisted on hanging out for a while.”

“Ah.” She eyes the floor to wolf/cat ratio, then points at the U. “I’m going to walk over there to sit. If tails and paws can be moved out of the way, I’d appreciate it.”

Some amused and thoughtful looks and shuffling later, there is a narrow path to the U that she uses, carefully, so as to not accidentally step on anyone too close. There is, however, a trio of massive black cats occupying her seat. She is tired enough to get into a staring contest with them, and eventually one of them sighs and heaves to its feet, walks in a lumbering manner to the middle of Hinami’s lounge spot and flops down again. The other two show no signs of moving, until she smirks with a slightly sadistic edge to it and says, “I’m sitting there. Whether you choose to move or not is up to you, of course.”

One oozes to the left, onto the edge of Hinami’s spot, while the other stays and glares right up until Sakura starts to sit on her, then darts right, to lean against Izuna’s feet and grumble, “Your queen is vicious. I approve.”

Sakura relaxes into her seat, almost tired enough to follow Tobirama’s example and fall asleep on the spot. Something nudging her foot has her opening her eyes and jolting in surprise at finding herself nearly on eye level with a large, scarred, white wolf. “Yes?”

“I’m not convinced that I should be willing to leave Tobirama with you.”

“You can take him away over your dead body.” Sakura snaps, glaring.

“So you think you would win, human?” The white wolf sounds dubious.

She smiles saccharinely. “Do you really think my sensei didn’t teach me how to counter canine attacks? The last time I fought, I was facing a mad goddess. Sorry if you’re less intimidating than that.”

There is a moment of tense silence, then the wolf lays his head in Sakura’s lap. “Scratch. I particularly like it behind the ears.”

For a moment, she feels off-kilter, but decides that she can live with giving scritches to an oversized wolf if it means she doesn’t have to move at the moment and obediently sinks her fingers into the thick fur.

~

Sakura lays flat on her back, panting. Kakashi sensei had talked her into trying out one of the public training grounds with him after finding out that she hasn’t done more than a few light spars with her wives in private since arriving here. Predictably, the training grounds is a disaster zone in the aftermath of their spar.

Also predictably, Kakashi sensei has won. He’s S rank for a reason, after all. But considering he’s flopped a few feet away and breathing a bit heavier than normal himself, she doesn’t feel too bad about it. Neither of them bother looking around upon hearing footsteps approaching.

It is Madara, Hashirama, the Haruno Clan head and a couple other minor Clan heads. One of them gives a low whistle. “You two did this on your own?”

Kakashi sensei chuckles. “It’s not that bad. It’ll be good practice for a genin team to restore it.”

“Sensei, we don’t have the Academy set up quite yet.” Sakura tells him. “Right now it’s _‘if you mess it up, you clean it up’_.”

He clicks his tongue in mild annoyance. “If I’d known that, I’d have held back a bit. It’ll take a couple hours before I have chakra for that.”

Hashirama laughs. “Never mind, friend. I can smooth the dirt and regrow the trees. Madara and the rest of us can carry the broken trees off for firewood and whatnot.”

“Appreciated.” Kakashi says. Then adds in a serious tone. “Sakura, we need to get the Academy up and running immediately.”

This brings chuckles from the others as they walk past.

“The proposal for it passed last week. Tomorrow it’s up for discussion on schedule for being built and implementation.” She tells him.

“The sooner the better.” He opines in a firm tone, obviously opposed to that particular D rank if it doesn’t include minions to order about.

She kindly does _not_ laugh at him.

~

Sakura stretches. Tomorrow the hospital will finally open and she and Hashirama will have their work cut out for them getting the staff and systems up to standard. Since they couldn’t risk the ambient chakra from the Hashirama wood destabilizing patient condition or affecting lab results, it had taken five long months to get the hospital built and furnished. And at that, it’s just the basic reception, a single surgery, a laboratory, a few patient rooms, a small ICU and a not much larger ER. Further wings will have to be built at convenience, since Konoha truly needs its carpenters and builders for other projects and most likely will for quite some time.

Hopefully most of the training can be got in before any true emergencies occur. Hashirama has been doing his best with training staff in the medical tent they had set up as a temporary hospital, while Sakura has been busy reconstructing what she knows of hospital systems on paper, which is _a lot_. When she hasn’t been doing that, she’s been busy committing medical procedures and knowledge to paper. Honestly, she’s been going to Hashirama on a weekly basis to heal the wrist strain involved. She’s pretty sure that little Sawako had started to think that she naturally has black marks all over one hand, and Tobirama’s devised an ink remover to deal with the stains that end up on her face and hair when she’s careless. Fortunately it deals with the ink on her hand, too.

Well, at least they’ve gathered enough folks willing to work as staff for now and the Academy will be turning out new candidates within a couple years at most. It is now the end of September, almost October, but the Academy opened two months ago. Of course, the Academy had been built in the space of a week, with Hashirama growing the buildings and carpenters going along behind installing windows and doors in the appropriate gaps. Ordering and installing the chalkboards had taken longer than the rest put together, and had been the last bit of furnishing required.

Now, when she wants to amuse herself, she goes and watches the various concerned parents hanging out in the trees on Academy grounds, with the teachers in various flavors of annoyed, pretending that they can’t tell that they’re there. Chasing them away would be counterproductive, she knows, but it’s still funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sukio Hatake- Hatake Clan head.
> 
> Sakura: (walks in to see Kakashi laying down, holding Sawako above him)  
> Kakashi: (coos to the baby about how she’s his adorable granddaughter)  
> Sakura: Kai!  
> Kakashi: That’s just rude, Sakura-chan. What would you do if cute little Sawako-chan grows up believing that she’s not adorable?  
> Sakura: (sputters) Since when do you like kids!?  
> Kakashi: Since never, but Sawako-chan is different. She’s _yours_. How could I not find my granddaughter lovable?
> 
> The Haruno Clan head suddenly feels a lot more grateful about her being gracious when asked to change her clan name. Haha.


	9. Spring is Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carnivorous unicorns. Kirin. Oni, pegasi and ogres.  
> OR  
> There are things Sakura still doesn't know about this world and how much it differs from her original universe, despite the similarities. She finds out about several of them in relatively short succession.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sorry. Hahaha.  
> ~  
> This is not a result of nano. I swear it's been in the works for a good four chapters or so. But I don't have a lot left in my list of scenes, so this is drawing to a close. So if there's a scene you Must see before it ends, let me know. ( _Sex scenes are probably a no._ )

Sakura blinks fuzzily in the early morning light, then looks around. It’s been nearly 6 months since she’s been on a mission more than two days from Konoha and there hasn’t been many of those, either. Grass is…grassy, and largely flat. She eats mission rations absently as her teammates stir and emerge from their tents.

“Huh. Is that thunder?” She asks after a few minutes have passed. Sakura has never spent enough time in Grass to be familiar with the seasonal weather patterns.

Her teammates freeze for a moment, then seem to snap out of it.

“Pack up! _Now!_ ” Taito barks out.

Puzzled, she follows instructions in an efficient manner. By the time she’s finished, the sound is much clearer and she can feel a tremor in the ground. Not an earthquake, but going by her teammates’ expressions and cursing, whatever it is isn’t good.

“Are you ready, Sakura-sama?” Imari asked, tension in her voice.

“Yes.”

“Good. We’ll be setting a fast pace we can maintain. Let’s go.” Taito orders, sounding equally tense.

She keeps pace with them, curiously glancing back now and then at what seems like a tide of darkness covering the horizon of the plains behind them. “What are we running from?”

“A Swarm of unicorns.” Taito replies in a very bland tone that somehow manages to question her sanity for asking the question.

“Unicorns? Don’t they like virgins or something?”

Imari breaks into cackling laughter before getting ahold of herself. “Oh, kami, don’t make me laugh while we’re running for our lives. I’m pretty sure it’s proven fact that unicorns have no preference between eating virgins and eating non-virgins.”

Sakura blinks a few times. “Unicorns _eat_ people?”

“This time of year? They eat anything that moves. It’s swarming season, you know.” Imari tells her, casting her an odd look. “You didn’t know?”

“The timeline I’m from doesn’t _have_ unicorns, much less people eating ones.” Sakura informs her, voice reflecting her bafflement. She’s pretty sure that in _her_ timeline, unicorns had been pure and solitary mythical creatures that liked to seduce virgins away from their families, or some romantic rot like that.

~

They have been running for a couple hours, with the Swarm getting slowly closer, looking like a really fucking big herd of horses with horns to Sakura’s eyes, when Taito glances back and suddenly swears. “Do _not_ turn back to help them. If whoever it is catches up with us, _then_ we can fight together, but turning back will just get us all killed sooner.”

“Hadn’t planned on it.” Imari says snippily, then, “They’re actually chasing someone?”

Sakura looks over her shoulder for a moment and spies the lone figure barely distinguishable from the oncoming front line of equines. “Yeah, looks like it.” She turns her gaze forward again so she doesn’t trip. “Impressive. They must be going faster than we are to have stayed ahead this long.”

Taito snorts. “No doubt. Not being eaten alive is plenty of motivation. They definitely aren’t civilian, though. They’d have dropped dead of exhaustion by this point if they were.”

“What do we do if the herd- er, swarm, catches up?”

“Kill a couple and keep running before they can surround us. Odds are at least some of them will stop to eat the fallen ones, which should temporarily slow them. Repeat as needed until we reach a village.”

“What? You mean use the village as bait?” Sakura is rather horrified by the notion.

“Of course not. Villages in Grass are protected by the kirin they raise. Unicorns avoid kirin like the plague.”

“I thought unicorns and kirin were almost the same thing?” The dichotomies of this world are going to give her a headache yet.

Imari laughs. “Not hardly. Kirin are bigger, smarter and breathe fire at need. You’ll see. They’re also herbivores and gentle as long as one isn’t a unicorn or a criminal. And before you ask, they don’t usually consider ninjas to be criminals, as long as we aren’t killing for fun.”

“Good to know.” She honestly doesn’t know if dying by fire would be any better than being eaten alive and she really doesn’t want to find out.

~

It’s over another hour before the runner catches up to them and falls into their pace easily. “Going a bit slow, aren’t you?”

“Better than running out of chakra 10 minutes before reaching a village.” Tazio says in a flat tone.

“Fair enough.” The man admits and keeps to their pace rather than leaving them behind. He doesn’t seem at all out of breath, for all the running.

Sakura eyes him curiously as they run. He is _tall_ , muscular, golden eyed and has pale blue skin, with twin sets of small horns poking out of his red hair. The skin reminds her of that Kisame person. “Summons contract?”

He gives her a startled look. “No. You’ve never seen an oni before?”

Silence, for a given value of the sound of literal thousands of hooves hot on their trail, falls for a long moment until she finally asks, “Oni? Like those legendary guardians of hell?”

Imari giggles. “Seriously, Sakura-sama? You didn’t even have _oni_ in your timeline?”

“I’m pretty sure the closest thing we had to that were summons or the Hoshigaki clan.” She admits on a sigh.

There is a slight pause in conversation, before the oni offers, “If you mean the ones in Water, I’m fairly sure a few of the local clan have married into that human clan over the generations.”

It’s not long before the swarm gets too close, close enough that one beast lunges to snap at them before falling behind. Sakura spins, punches the dirt _hard_ to create as much upheaval of ground as possible, sending most of the nearest unicorns sprawling and the rest staggering. It causes an eddy in the forward motion as those directly behind attempt to avoid tripping over the fallen front runners or barreling into the upright ones. She turns to run again, stumbling in her haste to get away. A strong blue arm clamps around her waist and she is carried for a few steps before being set down to run on her own again.

“ _Damn_ , woman. Are you married?”

She casts him a startled glance. “Yes, actually. I’ve got three wives and legally can’t take any more by clan law.”

Taito snorts.

“Hah.” Imari says. “But you don’t have any _concubines_ yet, do you?”

Sakura flushes, embarrassed by the way the conversation is going. “We only included concubines in the law because my wives decided that concubines meant ‘helpers to legal wives’. Otherwise-”

Imari laughs, _at her_ this time.

Miffed, she falls silent rather than get further into a losing argument.

“You like women then?” The oni asks in a contemplative tone.

“What? No. I mean, one of my wives is-” A huge shadow falls over them and she looks up reflexively. “ _Holy shit!_ What the hell are _those!?_ ”

The oni looks up as well. “Ah, we got lucky. That’s a flight of rocs. And unicorns are their favorite prey. You can watch if you want. I’ll make sure you don’t trip.”

Believing him, she turns to run backwards, watching in amazement as the massive black birds stoop in one at a time to snatch a unicorn apiece out of the mass. The surging mass of equines, which had started to recover the distance between them, came to a rearing, screaming halt in response. She assumed it was from panic until the last bird, slightly smaller than the others, fumbles slightly as it catches its prey, its feathers dip a fraction too low and is caught by rearing unicorns, which drag it down savagely with a combination of teeth clamped on feathers and battering hooves.

“Holy _shit_!” Sakura breaths again, then notices they are still being followed by one of the beasts. She turns to run forwards again, this time _not_ stumbling, thank you very much. “Still some on our tail.”

Taito glances back briefly and says simply, “Crossbreed.”

“Thank fuck!” Imari says, then tells her, “Unicorns are too stupid to stop chasing us, Sakura-sama, but Pegasus crossbreeds are not only smarter, they usually don’t crave meat. They’ll _eat_ it, but they won’t _hunt_ it, so we probably don’t need to worry about that one.”

“‘Pegasus.’” Sakura repeats in a flat tone.

“Flying horses.” The oni elaborates, seeming amused. “They stay away from the plains in spring, but they sometimes interbreed during other times of the year. They’re herbivores and very intelligent. See the massive scars along that one’s sides? Crossbreeds born to unicorn mares don’t usually survive, because the dams rip off their foals’ wings.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t noticed the scars and she’s not about to look now and admit she hadn’t.

“You were saying about your marriage?” He prompts.

“Uh… Hinami doesn’t like that stuff. And Tobirama and Izuna are male.” Then she adds as an afterthought, “But concubines of a Clan head have to provide a child, too, and since I’m the first Clan head of the Harunoshin…”

“Impressive. How does that work for your- for Hinami-san?”

Sakura gives him an odd look. “She brought an orphan to the marriage. She was actually the one to insist on the condition.”

“Hmn. Oni can interbreed with humans.”

Taito promptly chokes and Imari starts coughing.

“Sakura-sama,” Taito says in a serious tone, “I need to inform you that it is extremely rare that an oni considers a human to be worthy of courting, and as such, this is a serious offer on his part. Please think carefully on it before you reply.”

“So, this is one of those ‘I’d be stupid to turn it down’ things?” She asks curiously.

Imari stops coughing to reply, “That depends. If you do not return his attraction, _please_ , turn it down. To do otherwise would be a massive insult to him and he will respect a refusal. But otherwise? Yes, you’d be stupid to turn it down.”

“If I’m not wrong, he’s from a clan in northern Fire.” Taito adds. “The Yivoug?”

The oni nods. “Yes. I am Hibi. My mother is first cousin to the Sachem, though I am of no particular note. We are allied with the Uwadade ogres.”

“Ogres?” Sakura asks in a faint tone.

Imari breaks into hysterical laughter, clutching her sides and staggering as she runs before regaining control of herself. “You don’t know about ogres either? One ogre would make about two of him.” She says, jerking her thumb at Hibi. “They’re about a foot taller, too. Onis may think humans are rather weak, but ogres just don’t like us. They won’t necessarily pick fights with humans and they’ll do business with them, but good luck making _friends_ with them or getting them to talk to you outside of that.”

Hibi smirks. “That’s accurate. And actually, I need to leave a message for my companions in the next village. I got separated from them when the Swarm found me, so they’ll be looking for me.”

“You think they survived?”

“Ogres.” Hibi says drolly, as if this explains everything. “There’s three of them and boulders at their back. Worst case they start breaking unicorn necks and chucking the bodies at the piece of Swarm that broke off to bother them. They’re definitely fine. And no, I don’t need to wait for them. We’re heading back from our mission.”

Taito makes a disgruntled noise. “Be as that may be, Hibi-san, traveling with you looking like that is going to draw unwanted attention to our mission. If I lose Madara-sama’s and Hashirama-sama’s sister-in-law on her first ever mission outside of Fire, I’m _toast_. So we _really_ don’t need that complication. No offense.”

Hibi’s stride hitches slightly before smoothing out. “None taken. Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju?”

“That’s them.” Sakura tells him drily.

“Ah. In that case…”

Sakura almost falls in her nose in shock as he abruptly shrinks a couple inches in height, his horns disappear, and his hair turns snowy white.

He winks at her shocked expression. “Can’t change the eyes, but we travel in our secondary forms among humans if we don’t want to attract attention.”

“Tobirama is going to _love_ you.” Sakura blurts without thinking.

“So that’s a yes, then?” Hibi asks, openly amused.

“Arrgh! Shut up!” She slaps a hand over her face to cover her fierce blush, then removes it since it makes it hard to see where she’s going. “Fine. Yes. That’s a yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imari and Taito: Just rolling with Sakura claiming to be from another timeline.
> 
> Kirin. Though Sakura hasn’t seen one yet.
> 
> Hibi Yivoug- Male oni. Fairly high ranked due to his mother’s blood connection with the Sachem of the clan. Golden eyed. Red hair, light blue skin and (2 double sets) 4 short, rather delicate [horns](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/25/1e/3a251e34deaeb9797db760a202bf5618.jpg) in his primary form. Snow white hair, normal colored skin (on the lighter side) and no horns in his secondary form. Very tall and muscular but leanly built. A couple inches shorter in his secondary, human form.  
> Okay, so.  
> Hibi is the _only_ concubine I plan on giving Sakura. And though he's teasing her for her reaction there, he's actually a fairly laid back kind of guy and has no intention of interrupting the marriage dynamic that already exists. He can read Sakura well enough to see the affection all over her face when she speaks of her wives, and he's not an asshole. The concubine set up was mostly to freak out Sakura at the time and set it up so that future assholes can't abuse the multi-wife structure left and right.  
> Also. Political stuff here. Sakura kind of tripped verbally face first into agreeing, when she had intended to gather more information and consider the implications. But right now, she only knows what's been hinted at on-screen. In truth, if she'd had all the information needed, she probably would have said yes, just on the political benefits the relationship would bring her. _(And yes, she thinks he's hot. She'd definitely have said 'no' if she wasn't attracted.)_  
>  Since oni clans tend to have strength outsized to their numbers, they're a coveted alliance. But since onis are far from easily impressed and look down on humans, they'd _generally_ rather tell humans to go fuck themselves rather than even listen to any kind of alliance offer. For the rare humans that they're willing to marry, it brings an informal alliance to the oni in question's clan. That is HUGE. So even though his status isn't quite up to that of Sakura's wives, he brings with him roughly the same amount of political power. Also, an oni choosing a human is pretty much the same as giving everyone else an iron-clad guarantee that the human in question is seriously badass.  
> Yes, Hibi has a case of the _'ooh, pretty deadly!'_ syndrome. He has that in common with her wives. What she did with her punch was something that normally would take a large scale earth jutsu or an ogre to equal, so yeah, he's impressed.
> 
> Sachem- noun: **sachem** ; plural noun: **sachems:** (among some North American Indian peoples) a chief. Informal, North American: a boss or leader. _(Yes, I am misappropriating this word to use for the onis’ term for Clan leader.)_
> 
> Yes, Sakura, you are a total disaster. Congratulations on further complicating your marriage and love life.


	10. Kirin, Kakashi, and Arm-wrestling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura ponders, Kakashi has a cuddle life crisis, Kakashi and Ahana are left in charge while the rest go to Uzushio to negotiate a marriage contract for Hashirama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Have some world building:**
> 
> Rocs are basically fairly intelligent oversized birds. They prefer open lands with little forest. Gryphons are kind of dumb, but they hang out around roc rookeries and scavenge scraps that are thrown to the ground. It’s a sort of symbiotic relationship. They prefer open lands or lightly forested areas.
> 
> Unicorns are _stupid_ and vicious, these traits shown most clearly in spring when the roaming herds converge into carnivorous Swarms and hunt down anything that moves. Found solely in plains areas. They can breed with Pegasi, which ironically are human smart, non-carnivorous and fairly gentle. Neither can breed with regular horses. Pegasi may be found anywhere and frequently are found on the plains, though not in spring. They also understand human language. Unicorns are terrified of Kirin, which generally hate them on sight in return, and will refuse to get close to Kirin, despite having overwhelming advantages in numbers. Villages and towns in Grass keep kirin to protect themselves from unicorn invasions. Pegasi are not afraid of kirin and are ignored in return.
> 
> Kirin can breathe fire, and will do so when it comes to evil doers and unicorns. Half breeds get variable tolerance. Because of their role and small numbers _(they can only breed with each other)_ , kirin are all but venerated and taken _very_ good care of by their respective towns or individuals who travel with them. They are found on the plains and in forested areas. In general, they do not consider ninjas to be evil doers, but the ones who enjoy hurting or killing should stay far away from kirin if they do not wish to become crispy critters. Kirin fire is stunningly similar in properties to the Uchiha Amaterasu, though it doesn’t burn black. Culture links them both to the minor god Omoikane and the goddess Amaterasu, both due to their fire, its properties and how they choose to use it. As a result, giving an Uchiha a kirin is a surefire way to earn a friend for life, as they borderline venerate the creatures as belonging to Amaterasu.
> 
> Dragons are also human smart and come in two distinct varieties. Western style winged, fire breathing dragons and eastern style water dragons, which can fly but don’t have wings, and tend to use water based attacks. Both species are reclusive in nature and tend to avoid humans. Water dragons are generally a bit friendlier than sky dragons. Sky dragons tend to be found in areas like Wind or Earth, while water dragons are more indigent to places like Fire or Water. Neither species is populous. In general they understand human language, though few can speak it.
> 
> Fairies are mainly found in woodland areas, are seclusive by nature, defensive, hot tempered and extremely strong in chakra. In general, everyone leaves them be because they don’t want to tangle with fairies any more than fairies want to interact with them. They are human intelligent and have human speech, though they tend to have distinct dialects due to isolation.
> 
> Oni can be found in numerous environs, though they tend towards only one or two clans in a given area. Humans tend to be wary of them. They are stronger than humans, though not as strong as ogres, their chakra capacity is on the upper end of the spectrum, though not so overwhelming as that of fairies, and they tend to be extremely skilled with their jutsus. In general, they will make alliances with any nearby ogre clans. Their shinobi teams tend to be three ogres to one oni, with the oni being the jutsu user, strategist and human interface, since they are physically less intimidating than their ogre allies. They can, though rarely do, interbreed with either ogres or humans. They are an extremely proud species and in general won’t even listen to those they do not consider worthy of their respect. Exceptions to this are clients and interacting with others on missions.
> 
> Ogres are also found in numerous environs and humans tend to keep their distance out of self-preservation. They are large, muscular, extremely strong, highly intimidating in appearance and in general unfriendly to humans, which they rarely consider trustworthy. In general they will ally with any nearby oni clans. Like oni, they are not terribly populous and it is rare to find more than one or two clans in a given area, though multiple clans will be found in large areas such as Fire and the other large nations. Their chakra usage tends to be minor and relatively unskilled. Bad tempered individuals are not common among them, but humans find this hard to believe, due to the general hostility they tend to view humans with. They can interbreed with oni, though it is uncommon, and even humans, which is downright _rare_. There are a _very_ few human clans _(mostly shinobi clans)_ that are well known for having ogre blood in their lineage.

Kirin are…well, not exactly what she expected, given that myth in her world depicted them with scales and body parts from various creatures. For one thing, they look to be somewhere in the deer family, not some amalgamate chimera. Though she can see how a clumsy description of their patterning and shape passed down over several generations could easily have resulted in the chimeric description she is familiar with. The creatures have impressive antlers of a type she’s never seen before, though they _are_ vaguely dragon-like. For another thing, they are _big_. The kirin make the crossbreed unicorn, which had insisted on following them, look like a pony. And the stallion is on the large side for an equine.

Not to mention that kirin apparently _breathed fire_. And did not appreciate unicorns in the least, not even half breed ones.

It took a good hour of protesting snorts and whinnies and dodging flames for the crossbreed to give up on entering the village behind them. That doesn’t keep it from idling just out of fireball range, apparently determined to follow them once they leave the village.

Since her companions are more amused than anything at the crossbreed’s antics, she’s not worried about it, but it’s still weird.

~

Kakashi is trapped. Trapped!

Cats are, _in general_ , evil creatures perfect for letting his dogs chase or for teaching his cute little genin how to catch without hurting them while getting scratched up thoroughly. Granted, his encounters with cats heretofore have been mostly restricted to particularly aggressive strays mean enough to actually attack humans out of the blue and the daimyo’s wife’s cat, Tora, which was _(and probably still is)_ basically a vicious feral cat with a bow on one ear.

Other than ninnekos, of course. But ninnekos hardly count, since they are actually intelligent and can inform someone if they wish to be petted or not. They’re still kind of evil, though. Izuna’s summons are pranksters at heart and more than once he’s been pounced upon, had his ears boxed by an airborne cat and been threatened into either not touching or into giving pets and scritches on demand.

Then again, _this_ universe has another type of cat, which is kind of skewing the data set in annoying ways. _Cute,_ but annoying.

As evidenced by him being trapped by a grey cat curled up at shoulder height behind him, a black cat napping with its head in his lap and the blue-green birdie curled up against his left side. All human sized and humanoid. It’s baffling that they even _exist_ , much less that they’ve all decided to use him as a cuddle toy substitute in Sakura’s absence.

He had made the mistake of flopping in Sakura’s favored spot _once_ after she left, mostly to get a reaction. Unfortunately, there had been a notable dearth of dirty looks and snarly orders to stay out of her spot. Instead, Tobirama had curled up behind him without a word and when Kakashi had decided that moving was probably smarter and started to get up, he had gotten thwapped across the eyes with a grey and rust tail for his pains.

Successive days had not seen a repeat of the same mistake, but that hadn’t stopped Sakura’s ‘wives’ from taking turns towing him to the oversized U of a seat and cuddling in around him. Attempting to avoid them had just gotten him chased down. And when he went to further efforts to not be found, Tobirama had simply taken to tagging him with the hiraishin at supper, teleported to his location when he proved otherwise unfindable and then teleported both of them back.

Izuna’s congratulatory teasing had been the straw that broke the metaphorical camel’s back. Mostly because 3 on 1 is notably less fun, when at least two of the three are on equal skill level and the third has a dog to help track him, than a 1 on 1 game with Gai. Or than running highly amused circles around his kohais or genins.

So now, unless one of them is particularly depressed by Sakura’s absence and needs to be distracted from it, he just lets them drag him over for inevitable cuddles instead of disappearing after supper.

A faint noise has him tilting his head to listen. He bounces out of his seat, ignoring Izuna’s sound of startled disgruntlement and Hinami’s squawk of surprise.

“What is it?” Tobirama asks, though his ears are swiveled in the direction the noise came from, clearly having not missed it, if not sharing the full extent of Kakashi’s sharp hearing even in his cat-eared secondary form.

“Sakura’s home. With company.”

Kakashi generously steps out of the way of the welter of movement that brings, letting them have the dubious honor of reaching the front door first without a fight. If he wanted to win, he would’ve just not told them and left them behind, but while he misses his cute genin, it’s nowhere near to the extent that they miss her. He ambles after them, not at all surprised to find them outside greeting her. Behind her is a tall, white-haired man who he just _knows_ is going to be an addition to the household and…

“Is that a unicorn?” He blurts out. Logically, it’s a horse with a fake horn strapped to its head somehow, but he can’t see any straps and choosing a horse with such livid scars on its side to play a mythical creature is just…

The white-haired man raises a brow at him, then smirks faintly. “Yes, but it’s half Pegasus, so it won’t try to eat you.”

“A relief, I’m sure.” He snarks back automatically, then pauses. “Saa… So unicorns exist in this world? And they eat humans. Interesting.”

“In spring they eat anything that doesn’t stay out of range, really. Except kirin. They’re mortally terrified of kirin.” The stranger demurs. “You must be Sakura’s sensei?”

Kakashi stares at him for a long moment, then nods slightly. “And you would be Sakura’s new wi- concubine?”

The man’s golden eyes narrow on him briefly before he nods in return. “Hibi Yivoug of the Yivoug oni clan.”

“Oni?” Tobirama asks, attention abruptly diverted from Sakura. “I call dibs.”

Izuna pouts, then admits, “Aniki would have a fit if he were my helper, so okay.”

Everyone looks at Hinami, who shrugs. “I’m not strong enough to impress an oni enough to listen to me.”

They all look at Hibi for his reaction to that statement.

Hibi’s mouth quirks. “It is best to know one’s limitations. But I will accept your authority over me as a wife in circumstances where it is required. And I am willing to work with you.” He nods at Tobirama to indicate the latter statement is directed at him. “You have a reputation even among my kind.”

Kakashi jumps as the ~~hor~~ \- unicorn-pegasus thing snuffles at his shoulder curiously. Obviously it is a sneaky creature for all its size and horsey-ness, for him not to notice its approach. It flinches at his reaction, before going back to sniffing at him, apparently a rather friendly creature for being half man-eating in nature. He lifts a hand tentatively to stroke its nose. Which it seems pleased with.

“Ah… Good boy?”

Hinami breaks into giggles. “We should probably have Hashirama fence off a pasture for him. Unless we’re _planning_ to scare off guests.”

 _Hm. Scaring off guests. Sounds like fun._ He wonders if the unicorn-pegasus would take well to ninja training?

~

Sakura is still confused as to why she’s been designated to negotiate a marriage contract for Hashirama with the Uzumaki. Granted, she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing. Just…why her? _Hashirama_ could have come. _Tobirama_ would have done just as well if not better. And if it _has_ to be her, which apparently it does, how does this require being accompanied by all three wives, her concubine and a dog? If she’s being honest, she’s given up trying to understand in favor of trying to ignore the absurdity, but still.

Also granted, it’s fairly amusing to see the Uzumakis reactions to her spouses and concubine pretending to be polite and demur, deferring to her like any proper spouse. Hibi in particular gets some spectacular spluttering, since they’ve realized that he’s an oni. Apparently an oni acting _demur_ is brain breaking or soul destroying or something like that. There’s been at least three casualties from people spacing out in shock whilst still walking and running into things or people.

Honestly, it’s not _her_ fault that some idiot taunted him about being too weak to win an arm wrestling match and told him to use his full strength. The idiot entirely deserved the broken wrist she got from the match, though Hibi had gone noticeably easier on the following contenders.

Why arm wrestling is one of the greeting banquet’s traditional party games she doesn’t know. And is a little afraid to ask for fear of getting treated to full on Naruto logic, _because where else would he have inherited it from_? But it had been fun, and it had the result of turning the faint, _‘should I be insulted?’_ looks on her hosts’ faces to impressed expressions. She had won, of course, but it certainly wasn’t easy even with Hibi having won every previous match and probably being a bit tired from it. Several of the Uzumaki were good enough to have given him a real contest. And if she’d had a few twinges of nausea afterwards, well, they’d passed quickly enough. She’d probably had too much seafood or something.

Which brings her to now. Negotiating with Ashina Uzumaki and his great-niece Mito for Mito’s hand in marriage to Hashirama. Something that she is apparently terrible at and that she’s all too aware has only not failed at entirely due to the occasional polite interjections from her wives. She’s dead certain that her wives are laughing at her internally and Ashina’s and Mito’s expressions of tolerant amusement give her no reassurance that they aren’t as well.

“You realize, don’t you, that while allying with Konoha would certainly be to our benefit, there’s no reason I need to marry a man without the guts to come negotiate for himself.” Mito says, a gleam in her brown eyes. “I could marry you, since your clan allows multiple wives.”

Sakura chokes and starts coughing, waving her hands around to ward off well intentioned assistance.

“I’m afraid that would be impossible.” Hinami says politely after Sakura more or less gets control of her breathing again. She takes a sip of her tea. “Clan law only allows three wives, and becoming her concubine is rather below your status, Mito hime.”

“I’m pretty sure that Hibi would feel threatened if anata took another concubine so soon.” Izuna adds, tone thoughtful, irritated malice glinting in his eyes.

Ashina pales a shade at the not very subtle threat and Mito huffs a laugh. “Nevermind. I’m not truly offended by Hashirama not coming himself. Some of my cousins have met him and consider him a kind man. The terms of the contract are acceptable.”

“That aside, you have something else you’d like to speak to us about, do you not, Sakura-sama?” Ashina states.

She gives him a surprised look. “Yes, I do. I am from the future of a world almost identical to this one. In that future, the Uzumaki and Uzushio were completely destroyed other than one bloodline in Konoha and a few who managed to escape, scattered to the winds. I do not know the logistics of who was behind the attack or how they accomplished it, but I would like to prevent the clan’s annihilation. Thus I would like to speak with you about creating a small independent community of Uzumaki within Konoha.”

Mito drops her tea cup in startlement, color draining from her face. “You know seal work that well?”

Sakura snorts. “No. I’m pretty sure this is the result of a sharingan being used on me and things going a bit wrong. _Are_ there time travel seals?”

“Yes.” Ashina answers in a thoughtful tone. “But using them is so dangerous that they are basically a forbidden art. Only the most experienced seal masters may work on them, and we haven’t had one interested in doing so for a few generations now. My grandmother was the last who did so.”

“So a nearly extinct art. Interesting.” Tobirama comments.

She jerks her head around to stare at him. “Tobirama, _no_.”

He smiles at her over the rim of his teacup. “Spoilsport. But I find the concept of a lost sealing art more interesting than the idea of toying with time. I already did that with the Hiraishin and have no interest in taking the study further.”

Ashina chuckles. “There are many things I’d like to know about the future, Sakura-sama. And should you care to share that jutsu, there are several who would be willing to open their personal libraries to you in exchange, Tobirama-san.”

“There’s no guarantee that they are capable of learning it.” Tobirama replies with a shrug. “It seems cruel to get their hopes up.”

“What do you want to know, Ashina-sama? I’m from 60 or so years in the future, so there are things I don’t know and things that would be useless or even dangerous to share, given that the timeline has already diverged since my arrival.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sakura: This is not how I pictured kirin.
> 
> Kakashi, experiencing cuddle induced dramatics: Wait, what’s with the horn?
> 
> Sakura: How did I end up here again?
> 
> Yes, there are minor timeskips involved.
> 
> Hibi did change forms, less because he was provoked and more because the Uzumaki have just as much of a reputation _(though a somewhat different one)_ as the oni clans do, so he’s willing to show them the respect of letting them know what they’re dealing with more or less up front rather than springing it on them later for the most shock value.  
> Also, he’s not real fond of their attitude towards Sakura at the beginning, since her status as basically an unknown is seriously working against her here. It rubs at his pride that someone _he_ has chosen is being looked down on.  
> He’s actually a lot harder to provoke than that, if he doesn’t feel like being provoked, since he’s as patient as Hinami, perhaps even more so. Not all onis are that patient, by any means, though they are trained in enough strategic thinking to at least compliment their ogre allies’ brute strength in various situations.
> 
> Sakura does want the marriage to go through, if for no other reason than wanting Tsunade to be born eventually. It’s just that this is not the sort of politics she’s trained for and even though she’s presenting her case decently enough, it’s pretty obvious that she’s a bit out of her depth.
> 
> On another note, the oni clans have a sort of story/history/myth that gets passed down. They don’t know the origin of it anymore or what exactly it signifies ( _which is basically the differences between this world and other parallel universes_ ):  
>  _Ten things under heaven. Forfeits given in the game of gods./  
>  Dragons of water, dragons of sky. Rocs and gryphons, unicorns and pegasi. Kirins with fire to purify./  
> Fairies, with chakra blessed and temper sharp, in the forest hidden. Ogres, strong of arm; onis, keen and proud; always brothers, yet unbidden./  
> Ten things under heaven. Forfeits made to change the odds._  
> Eventually, Hibi will at least sort of make the connection and repeat the verse to either Kakashi or Sakura and probably to Tobirama as well.  
> And yes, the gods _did_ meddle in this universe by creating the extra ten species.  
> Also yes, it did take me a while to finish working this out, but the extra species have been planned in for about five chapters before they showed up, so no, this wasn't a random, last minute addition.  
> The oni clans are a lot like Tobirama in that they enjoy pursuing chakra theory and whatnot, so they are familiar with the concept of alternate universes, time travel, etc. So Hibi gets on with Tobirama a _lot_ better than Sakura initially presumed they would, simply because they understand each other and can easily debate with each other.
> 
> Sorry for the delay, winter is hard on me in various ways and the first couple scenes fought me like you wouldn't believe. I think I left something out somewhere, but I don't remember where or what it was. I'll add it if I remember or if it's pointed out. Feel free to point out any typos, as always. And if something doesn't make sense, I'll be happy to clarify.
> 
> Edit: Happy Holidays!


	11. Homeward, Friend, Birth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura throws up, Ahana is so done, Obito shows up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end, folks.

Sakura eyes the two Uzumaki cousins that Hinami has brought her and wonders skeptically at the odds of them both being redheads. While redheads make up about 1 or 2 out of every twenty Uzumakis, they’re still uncommon enough that she’s not so sure it’s a coincidence. That aside, though, they are excellent candidates to join the Harunoshin and are willing to leave the Uzumaki to do so. Sukuna, with her distinctly _strawberry_ -blonde hair, is a _medical seals_ specialist, while her maternal cousin Konjin, with his flame red hair, is a _seal_ _creation_ specialist. Even among the Uzumaki, their skill sets are not exactly common.

“I would be glad to accept them to the clan, but they need approval from Ashina-sama first, Hinami. We didn’t exactly ask if we could convince some of his clan to join ours.”

Konjin gives the two of them a very dry look but doesn’t say anything.

“Oh, we already asked Ashina-sama last night, Sakura-sama. He said we could as long as you’d have us. It’s not as if we’re irreplaceable and we come from one of the lesser branches of the clan, so we’re not that important to begin with.” Sukuna says in a chirpy but vaguely sardonic tone. “Honestly, though, I look forward to working with you and a wider variety of patients in Konoha. Uzushio has…other methods of healing where we don’t currently have seals to cover a medical need.”

She remembers Karin and grimaces. “Right, the biting. Is that something you do, too?”

“Ew guh. No.” Sukuna wrinkles her nose, presumably at the unsanitariness of the method, or possibly the scarred bite marks that result from it. “That’s one bloodline gift that I’m glad isn’t in my branch of the family. But I’m surprised you know of it.”

Sakura shrugs. “In my original timeline, I knew an orphaned Uzumaki with the gift. Though I think it was probably more of a curse for her. It would have been better for her if she’d had better battle skills to protect herself from being used.”

Something like sympathetic horror flits through everyone’s eyes at that. Being weak _and_ having valuable bloodline skills rarely works out well. _(Too many greedy people with the power and motivation to use such a person. And even one greedy person could be one too many.)_ Not that Sakura herself had been any better at the time, but at least her enemies couldn’t steal her lifeforce to use against her in the middle of a battle. It was rather shocking that Karin had survived her circumstances long enough to _get_ stronger. Now that Sakura is actually _happy_ , the only emotion left in her for Karin is pity. Not just for her shitfest of a life, but for the fact that Karin still loves Sasuke, who is too self-involved to ever properly return the emotion.

Sukuna and Konjin give her peculiar looks, which she recognizes as meaning _‘did you just say timeline like you’re not from this one?’_

“That is a cruel fate indeed.” Konjin says slowly. “And why that bloodline is afforded extra protection in the field.”

 _Did they? Interesting._ She bites her lip for a moment, then changes the subject. “Are you allowed to bring your expertise to my clan, though?”

“There are some seals that are proprietary to the clan, and those we won’t use or share, but the rest we can share with the clan and our skills are ours to use, so anything we create after joining your clan will belong to the Harunoshin, or the public if you prefer, Sakura-sama.” Konjin answers calmly, elbowing Sukuna when she opens her mouth.

“Yes. That’s true.” Sukuna allows in a sour tone.

Sakura nods. “I would take you either way, but it is good to know that your current specialties can benefit the clan and you won’t require retraining for something else.”

Sukuna looks surprised for a moment, then hides it, though Sakura isn’t sure as to the cause of the surprise. It’s not as if she had specified that she’d only take them if their skills in seals could be used by her clan.

~

Ahana puts a hand over her eyes and then drags it across them in frustration. _And here she’d thought Hashirama-sama was loud and heedless._ Kakashi-san’s guest seems to be his direct opposite, a _civilian ninja_ with dark hair, broad shoulders and heavy muscles but apparently very little chakra. She is also very loud and sincere in contrast to his deceptively restrained teasing.

Honestly, Ahana would think she is Kakashi-san’s type _if_ not for the fact that half their conversations revolve around the man that the woman is dating, Maito-san. _And_ the fact that Kakashi-san is downright shameless in encouraging her in and giving her ideas for said dates.

The mischief dancing in his eyes and the smugness that he doesn’t even try to hide tells her that he’s up to something and secure in the thought that whatever it is, is working. Sakura-sama’s beloved sensei is a _troll_ at heart. Which she doesn’t really mind. But, _really_ , would it be too much to ask for him to take his plotting elsewhere? Like a public restaurant or a training field? At this rate, she’s going to be going deaf sooner than later, and being old sucks enough without _that_.

She’d kick them out, but Sakura-sama has left him jointly in charge, so she doesn’t have the power to do so if he refuses. And-

A particularly loud exclamation from Kakashi-san’s friend is followed by wailing from the next room. _Oh, dear._

 _Enough is enough_.

Ahana points rudely at the pair of them. “Either use inside voices or _get out_. You _woke the baby!_ ”

They do look a bit remorseful at that, but it’s a little late for remorse to do any good, in her opinion.

“Oops.” Kakashi-san says. “I’ll put her back to sleep?”

“My apologies, Ahana-san. I’ll be quieter.” His friend stage whispers.

Ahana gives them a poisonously sweet smile. “Yes. You _will_.”

 _Kami give her patience._ She really wishes that Sakura-sama could have left that nice oni boy of hers at home and in charge. It would have spared her _so many_ headaches.

~

Sakura steps on the ferry, which is much more crowded this time, what with the Uzumaki contingent that is to accompany them back to establish themselves in Konoha on board as well, and turns to make her farewells. She’s mostly done when a particularly large waveswell suddenly sends her stomach twisting in protest and before she knows it, she’s clinging to the railing, losing her breakfast into the sea. When she’s done, she flops down and rolls over on her back to soothe the nausea caused by the motion. An eternity passes as she pants and swallows, and before she knows it, one of the Uzumaki healers is bending over her, running a diagnostic.

“Well, the bad news is that you’re going to feel like death warmed over by the time you reach the mainland. The good news is that pregnancy isn’t contagious, so no one else will unless they normally get seasick.”

“Pregnant!?” Sakura lurches into a half sitting position, only to be pushed back down gently.

“With twins.” The healer confirms, wry amusement loud in his tone. “Try not to push yourself on the way back. And have that Hokage of yours take you off missions until a couple months after you give birth. Twins take more energy from the mother than a single pregnancy. That, and I’m pretty sure your wives would have a heart attack if they let you out of their sight before then.”

She nods at the former and looks up at the latter, eyeing her wives’ expressions and Hibi’s expression before realizing ruefully that if anything he’s understating their reactions. _Joy_. And she means that sarcastically. With a sigh, she concedes, “Well, there’s always plenty of work to do within the village.”

 _Now, if she can manage to survive the boat ride without further puking, that would be nice_.

~

Sakura gives birth at seven and a half months, which is reasonable for twins. Mind you, giving birth is not something that she’d _recommend_. Particularly twice in a row. But as far as these things go, it has gone well and she’s done with the tough part now. She narrows her eyes at Kakashi sensei, who has somehow managed to obtain both her newborns and is sitting with one in each arm, cooing at them. It’s cute, but she knows it’s a harbinger of things to come. Most likely, the only time she’ll get them from him without a fight is when they need nursing or diaper changing, or when he’s doting on Sawako instead.

There’s a twist in the air of Kamui and for a split second she thinks Kakashi sensei is planning to _actually_ abscond with her babes, but then Obito is standing there, giving Kakashi a huffy look.

“There you are.” Then he apparently notices the babies. “Wha-!? Bakakashi, don’t tell me that you _reproduced_!?” He flails as he talks, seemingly unable to process the conclusion calmly.

Izuna clears his throat pointedly.

Obito spins around, eyes going wide. “Uchiha!?”

“By birth.” Izuna replies, unsubtly amused at their unexpected guest. “You too by the look of it, though I don’t know if I’m impressed by the scars or impressed by the fact that you survived being incompetent enough to get them. I take it that you’re from Sakura’s timeline?”

“Wha-? Sakura? Hey! I’m not incompetent.” Obito protests, then mutters, “Well, maybe I was _then_ , but I’m not _now_. And what do you mean ‘timeline’?”

“Funny thing.” Kakashi sensei says in one of the laid back tones that drives Sasuke spare and demonstrably does the same to Obito. “Turns out that this is the past, but it’s not actually _our_ past. Which is probably why it took you so long to find us, ne?”

Sakura waves at him from the bed, pleased at the little twitch it gains her. “Hey there, Obito. I’ve been here…2yrs? Thereabouts. Sensei’s been here about a year. Oh, by the way, I’m married and those are my kids sensei’s cooing over.”

Obito looks close to bluescreening death, blinking rapidly at the information, which soothes the slightly sadistic urge to punch him through a few walls, since it’s obvious that he _hadn’t been looking for her_ and _hadn’t known she was here_. Not that she’s not glad for Kakashi sensei. He’s missed the future far more than she has and he deserves to have someone to put him first. It’s just that she’s tired of everyone in the future acting like she’s an afterthought. Even without her lovely wives and children, chances are high that she’d stay here anyways.

“Ah. And who’s the husband?”

“Me.” She informs him in a dry tone.

He looks around for confirmation that she’s joking, only to have everyone in the room except Kakashi and the babies point at her or say, “Sakura is.”

“Ah!? Okay then? Um, who’s the wife, then?”

Tobirama, Izuna and Hinami promptly raise their hands.

Obito looks at them, then eyes the others in the room with a rather wild expression.

“Brother-in-law.” Hashirama offers helpfully.

Madara snorts. “Brother-in-law.”

“Attending doctor.” Says the Senju medic. Which is _not_ Hashirama, because there are some things a woman doesn’t want her brother-in-law seeing.

“Clan member.” Ahana adds without prompting.

“I’m the concubine.” Hibi offers blandly.

He opens and closes his mouth several times before finally demanding, “Are you all pranking me!?”

The whole room breaks into snickers and chuckles before Tobirama elucidates in a dust dry tone, “We are not, in fact, pranking you, Uchiha-san.”

~~

Obito is a bit overwhelmed by the number of Uchiha who show up to take a look at him over the next few weeks, so eventually he pries Kakashi away from Sawako and the babies and returns Kakashi to the future, along with a packet of letters from Sakura to friends and family, since she’s staying.

After that, Obito gets used as a messenger pigeon for taking letters back and forth, to his slight annoyance. Timeflow between the timelines isn’t 100% consistent, but he soon gets the knack of landing ‘when’ he means to.

He brings Kakashi by to visit for about a month about the time Sakura gives birth to her third biological child, this one by Hibi. Kakashi maintains that Sawako is still his favorite, despite stealing the baby to hold at every chance and doting on the twins. He teaches Sawako some jutsus to make the now five and a half year old even more of a little terror than she already is, given what her various parents have taught her. He also gives her a tiny mask like his own, which she wears everywhere for a few months, declaring she’s gonna be ‘ _Just like grandpa ‘Kashi!’_

~~

Sakura is pregnant with/gives birth to fraternal twins. A light-pastel-pink haired girl by Tobirama and a redheaded boy by Izuna. _(And, ahem, it’s come to my attention that not everyone knows that you can have different fathers for a pair of twins. But it is medical fact. Identical twins come from the same egg that splits after being fertilized. Fraternal twins come from two different eggs and may or may not have the same father. Fertilization is not an instant process and sperm stays active for several days (3?). So if you have a mix of sperm in the womb, well, it’s just a matter of chance which manages fertilization.)_  
Her second pregnancy results in a girl with bright neon-pink hair by Hibi.  
All three of them are terrors in their own right. As is Sawako.  
Sawako goes into T&I on a part time basis, being something like a field agent for them in general. She’s a very sweet and competent person, but has some dark and devious impulses inherited from her unlamented bio mom, though directed in much saner ways. Her reports tend towards Kakashi-style, with full points for giving her superiors headaches. While she can heal a little bit and bandage wounds, she’s not a medic and carries medical seals on her only as stopgap measures for when a medic isn’t available.  
Tobirama’s daughter, Raga (elegant orchid), inherits the clan headship, mostly due to being the only one with the real patience for it. Because _paperwork_. And _politics_. And _long-term planning_. She spends a lot of her free time developing seals and jutsus in addition to her sanctioned R&D work for Konoha and Clan heir duties and duties as a part time medic. Raga specializes in extremely complicated, high-risk surgeries and treating rare diseases, so usually it’s not a big demand on her time, but the hours can be very erratic.  
Izuna’s son, Hisaki (scarlet colored tortoise), is impatient with nearly anything that isn’t action oriented, though he has an interest in deconstructing traps, wards and seals. He’s a great field commander, saboteur, and acting ambassador in situations that call for it. While a passable field medic in a pinch, his other skills are usually more useful to a group, so he’s rarely called on to actually heal.  
Hibi’s daughter, Kinoka (hollyhock's flower), gains a distinct reputation for being similar to Sakura, but taller, stronger and more likely to punt someone through a wall than to heal them, unless they’re dying. Needless to say, her oni relatives are a bit tickled by her reputation, if occasionally slightly miffed that she’s only half-oni. Kinoka has her mother’s pinpoint chakra control, but a larger base chakra pool from her father and her physical strength is only slightly under that of an average oni, so she has absolutely no trouble punting onis and ogres through walls as well. She’s a competent medic but doesn’t have the true interest in it that Sakura does, so her medical knowledge is much less extensive. She’s much more at home out on the battlefield, making enemies regret being born.

Also, Sakura does not survive without further puking. She’s thoroughly miserable by the time they make landfall a couple hours later and Hibi ends up carrying her for the rest of the day.

Rise Nakagawa- Gai Maito’s great grandmother. Where he inherits his build and looks from. If possible even louder and more enthusiastic than Gai, but not as dramatic. Her eyebrows are also not as dramatic. The Maito issues with chakra usage don’t come from her side of the family. Currently dating her future husband. It took Kakashi approximately 43 seconds to place who she probably was, mostly because he spent about 19 seconds absolutely floored at seeing a Gai doppleganger and it took him a bit to switch gears to figuring it out.

Obito flails more, much to everyone else’s amusement, until the babies wake up hungry and he passes out cold when Sakura goes to nurse them. They dump him in the room next to Kakashi’s. On a futon, even, cuz they feel a tiny bit sorry for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This** is the chart I made up to figure out how common redheads in Uzushio are:  
> Out of 20 people in Uzushio:  
> 8 brunettes 40%  
> 4 blondes 20%  
> 4 dark brown 20%  
> 1-2 redheads 5-10%  
> 1-2 black 5-10%  
> 1-2 random 5-10%
> 
> Clan Harunoshin gradually fills up with a mixture of pink and red haired folks in varying shades and those with superior chakra control, who are able to learn most of the advanced medical techniques Sakura has to teach. The so-called ‘pink medics’ remain the clan who contributes the most medics to Konoha well past Naruto’s time. They also supply the majority of combat medics.  
> Eventually they offer a scholarship to clanless students who wish to pursue a medic career, providing school supplies and offering a chance to make an application to join the clan if they wish. It’s more popular some years than others. A surprising number of scholarship students do _not_ wish to make an application to the clan, however, so it’s more of a small steady trickle than huge influx of members.


End file.
